The Biggest (Friendly) Game in Town

I’m trying to remember just how many Cirque du Soleil shows Vera Valmore and I have seen.

Having spent a number of summers in Las Vegas with the WSOP -- with Vera coming out to visit each time -- I know we saw a few. I believe O was the first, then Mystère. And of course Love, the Beatles one. There might have been one or two others in there, but I forget.

Was thinking about those shows again today while reading the story of Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté announcing this new “Big One for One Drop”-branded festival of cash games and tournaments scheduled to happen in October, called the Monte Carlo One Drop Extravaganza.

The marquee event will be a third “Big One,” albeit this time the tournament will sport a €1 million buy-in (even more the the $1 million buy-ins for the first two). Again a big chunk of each buy-in (€111,111) will go to the One Drop charity, and once again the entries will be capped (at 48 players).

A key difference, though, is that professionals won’t be allowed to enter the event, with the plan being instead to reserve all spots for “recreational” players -- i.e., the businesspersons and philanthropists who have made up a percentage of the previous “Big One” fields.

“Right now there is no poker tournament in the world of this magnitude that is strictly for recreational players,” Laliberté told PokerNews, using a decent-sized magnitude of understatement. The pros will be welcome to play the side events and cash games, but the main event will be strictly for amateurs.

It’s curious to think whether such an event will be as interesting to follow with no “name” pros in the field (although there will be some familiar folks in there, for sure).

Again, I think back to those Cirque du Soleil shows. All were highly entertaining, although to be honest I don’t recall coming close to being “moved” at all at any of them. Each had somewhat abstract themes and/or messages (with “Love” being the most obvious example), but each was also more or less overwhelmed by spectacle -- thrillingly so, mind you, but in an ephemeral way, at least for me.

This rec-only million-euro tournament seems like it’ll be a similar spectacle, without too much deeper meaning in terms of its place in poker’s story and developing culture. About that I could be wrong, though. And of course, the charity component ensures it will have meaning beyond poker, for certain.

Will be curious when it comes around. Laliberté usually does put on a good show.

(EDIT (7/13/16): Looks like the schedule for the sucker is out now -- you can see it here.)

Image: Laliberté during a press conference at the Johnson Space Center, public domain.

Travel Report: EPT12 Grand Final, Day 8 -- Stepping Up Our Game

That to the left is a picture of the stairs leading up to the media room at the Sporting Club where the European Poker Tour Grand Final Main Event is taking place here in Monaco.

There are 20 steps. Every time we get something on the tournament floor in the main tournament room, we have about a two-minute walk back to share what we’ve learned with the rest of the world, and this climb represents the last part of that journey.

During the first minute-and-a-half of the walk, your humble scribbler is usually thinking back over the hand or hands just seen, doing a mental shorthand of the report I’m about to transcribe from the literal scribbles written down in the notebook I’m carrying.

But by the last part of the walk -- by the time I reach these stairs -- such thoughts tend to vanish. Sometimes they are replaced by a rapid inventory of aches and pains, an inevitable byproduct of a week-and-a-half of constant movement. Mostly it’s the ankles and knees demanding to be noticed, but other muscles and joints occasionally cry out as well along with the squeaks of the wooden steps.

Monaco is all about walking, and often climbing. Everyone seems to face these flights of stairs, no matter where they’re heading within the principality.

I think during my visit here last year the metaphor of Grand Prix racing was foremost in my mind, probably because I was walking in everyday from a hotel located about a half-hour south (by foot) of the Sporting Club. But this time it is the staircase. And indeed, what I’ve discovered is how during that last part of the walk back to my laptop, I keep going back to the symbolic value of the stairs I climb.

No matter what they’re doing here, everyone at the festival -- players, media, staff -- looks at it as a kind of challenge that necessarily requires multiple steps to be completed. Whether it’s trying to survive the levels and days of a tournament without being eliminated, or simply to get through each hour and each day accomplishing whatever job they do. And of course everyone wants to do well and succeed, however that is defined, there are steps to climb before the thought becomes action, the plan becomes realized.

Gonna go rest up so as to be able to rise and climb some more tomorrow. Check over at the PokerStars blog to see what we all are carrying back up to the media room each of those trips to share.

Travel Report: EPT12 Grand Final, Day 7 -- Runner-Up

The year is only about a third over, but I feel like I’ve endured enough runner-ups for the rest of 2016 already. My Carolina Panthers lost the Super Bowl in February, then my UNC Tar Heels lost the championship game last month. Heck, even the Charlotte Hornets teased me into thinking we might win that first round series versus the Miami Heat before coming up short in the end.

Now I have my own second-place finish to add to the list, after playing deep into the night in the media tournament here in Monaco at the European Poker Tour Grand Final.

Prior to my own poker-playing fun came Day 2 of the Main Event, a relatively shorter day that went from noon to around 8:30 p.m. without a dinner break. Got a sandwich and a cup of tea after that, then headed over to the media tourney that started around 10 p.m.

I’m not playing a heck of a lot these days, so these media tournaments are kind of a treat. Like others on the EPT, this one was €20 to play. Unlike others, they made this one a “knockout” event with a €5 bounty on each player, too, making the entry €25.

We got going on time, and were seated in the main tournament room along with the other side events still going on all around us. About 40 or so participated, I think, or perhaps a few more.

Footballer legend Ronaldo (i.e., Ronaldo Nazário) played -- you can see him pictured at left -- as did Friend of Team PokerStars and Global Poker League player Felipe “Mojave” Ramos (against whom I played an interesting hand in the media tournament at EPT Dublin). I didn’t end up playing against either of them, but had a ton of fun nonetheless competing versus my media friends and colleagues.

Enjoyed greatly hands during the first hour-plus when the blinds weren’t yet too big to prevent postflop shenanigans, giving me a chance to play position a lot and also occasionally pressure shorter stacks. Soon, though, that became harder to pull off as the levels were only 10 minutes long, forcing the all-ins all around fairly frequently.

Got in on a five-euro last longer organized by Frank Op de Woerd that ended up being worth more than third-place prize money as so many participated. That became interesting once we got to the nine-handed final table when I had an above average stack and the only other two still in the last longer -- Victor (who writes for the PokerStarsLive French site) and Stephen (of the PS blog) -- came in short.

While I started the final table well by adding chips in the first hand, those two went all in a couple of times against each other after with Stephen coming out the worse of it, then shortly after getting eliminated. Soon after that Victor and I decided to chop the last longer, guaranteeing each of us a profit on the night.

Made it through the cash bubble (the top six finishers got paid), then with five left got short myself. A hand then arose in which Victor had raised all in and after posting the big blind I had only a couple of BBs left. Looked down at 5-2-offsuit, decided my range included any two cards, and called. Despite being up against two bigger cards I ended up making two pair by the turn, which beat the pair of jacks Victor made on the river, and a little after that chipped up enough to take the lead (winning a big one with pocket kings once along the way).

Actually had something like half the chips with four left, though things got even again when we were down to three. Victor then finally went out in third, and one of the TV guys Farhan and myself were heads-up. I joked that if we were still playing at 5:30 a.m. they’d make us stop as had happened with Ole Schemion and Fabian Quoss the night before in the €50K Single-Day High Roller, although we knew it wasn’t going to last much longer given the relative depth of the stacks.

I had a small advantage when we had our first all-in situation, with me calling his shove with K-10 and feeling pretty good about things when he tabled K-2. But a deuce appeared in the window, and suddenly I was down to four BBs and outchipped something like 6-to-1.

I’d double once with 5-3 versus his J-6 after he flopped a six, then I hit runner-runner two pair (I was around 6% to win on that flop). But then Farhan got me with 5-4 versus my A-3 (see left), meaning every heads-up all-in was won by the player with the worst hand when the chips went in the middle.

It was around 2 a.m. by then. Like in Barcelona earlier this EPT season (where I finished third in the media tournament), my only real disappointment was missing out on getting a winner’s photo, although the €275 I ended up taking away was a decent consolation prize. That total came from second-place prize money, chopping the last-longer, and the half-dozen or so bounties I collected. Just missed out again on being the first to win two of these media tournaments on the EPT (I think), after winning that one way back at EPT Kyiv many years ago.

Grabbing some sleep now. The tournament most people want to read about is still going on today, of course, with just under 200 making it to today’s Main Event Day 3. Check in again at the PokerStars blog to see who wins the all-ins over there and continues to have a chance to make their final table on Friday.

Photo (nine-handed final table): courtesy Jules Pochy/PokerStars blog.

Travel Report: EPT12 Grand Final, Day 6 -- A Tale of Two Sevens

That’s a shot looking back at Monaco from the bay, one I'll admit I didn't take but rather grabbed off the EPT Live stream earlier today which I was locked in and watching all day.

Helped cover the France Poker Series Monaco Main Event today, which meant a day of sitting rather than running up and down stairs and back and forth across the Sporting Club. A nice change for sure, and the final table proved exciting enough with the Frenchman Stephane Dossetto outlasting the entertaining Niall Farrell of Scotland to win.

Interesting bit of uncanniness at the end of the event, as Dossetto won with a final hand of pocket sevens. His name -- as he made a point of telling us the night before -- means “two-seven,” at which time he made a reference to winning a hand with a seven on his way to the final table. So his winning with two sevens was curious, as was the fact that he made a set on the last hand (another word contained within his name).

When the night was done, Nick and I were out in time for me to check in on the Charlotte Hornets-Miami Heat score in their Game 7. Confirming the Hornets had already fallen behind by 30 in the third quarter, we scurried back over to the Mozza restaurant we’d visited and enjoyed a week before, both getting the kobe beef ravioli and that octopus salad I’d had the last time. C'était délicieux.

Probably the most fun of the whole day was walking with Nick through Monaco with only a semi-perfect memory of where the restaurant was, then between the two of us together managing to angle ourselves exactly toward our destination. Wasn’t the most difficult of challenges, mind you, but still felt like a welcome victory.

Got back to the room before midnight, and so am looking forward to a decent night’s worth of sleep after having come up short in the z’s department last night. In the hopes of achieving that goal, I’ll cut things off here.

If you’re curious about how that FPS Monaco final table went, check out the recap. Moving over to the Main Event today, which moves into Day 2 with what looks like a huge field, so check in over at PokerStars blog for that as well tomorrow.

Image: EPT Live.

Travel Report: EPT12 Grand Final, Day 5 -- Cracked

“That should be some sort of art installation.”

So suggested Remko Rinkema, speaking of the cracked window there to the left. One of a few looking out the media room onto the Mediterranean Sea, it has been cracked in this way for as long as anyone can remember, and there are a lot of lengthy memories among those who have been covering EPTs over the last dozen years.

Was a little overcast today, making for a less stunning view through those cracks. More often the sky is a light shade of blue and the water a deeper one, with cruise ships typically passing to and fro to create an animated postcard constantly in motion behind us as we work.

The window takes on a symbolic significance with each passing day, too, as everyone tries to hold it together while the festival unrelentingly marches onward. In truth, aside from a few sore throats and a cough here and there, everyone seems to be managing just fine as we approach the halfway point of this year’s European Poker Tour Grand Final.

Five days are done, and six more are left. Today’s fifth day was a long one for your humble scribbler who again was helping cover the France Poker Series Monaco Main Event. Meanwhile the EPT Main got started, the €100K Super High Roller finished up (won by Ole Schemion with Mustapha Kanit part of the heads-up chop, natch), and a myriad of other side stuff was going on as well to make for another crowded time at the Sporting Club.

Our tournament started with 1,261 runners, 60 of whom returned for Day 3. From that bunch just six are left to play tomorrow, with France’s Stephane Dossetto the leader just ahead of the often entertaining British player Niall Farrell. They’ll be streaming “cards up” coverage of the final table on Sunday, so if you tune in over at EPT Live starting at 2 p.m. Monaco time (that’s 8 a.m. ET), you can watch this one play out to a conclusion.

None of the players seemed to crack up today, at least not in observable ways. A decision made near the end of the night to keep on playing down to six players (rather than stop at eight) was met with approval. It’ll make for a shorter day on Sunday, for certain, which I think also will make things a little easier for these final half-dozen if they wish to jump in the second Day 1 flight of the Main.

Check out yesterday’s coverage of all the big events over on the PokerStars blog, and tune in today for some FPS final table fun as well, as I’m sure James Hartigan, Joe Stapleton, and Matt Broughton of EPT Live will have viewers cracking up.

Travel Report: EPT12 Grand Final, Days 3-4 -- If We’re Counting

Thought with yesterday’s anniversary post I’d combine a couple of days’ worth of base-touching regarding how things are going in Monaco this week -- days 3 and 4 here (out of 11, if we’re counting).

In truth, the two days weren’t all that different from one another, as both once again saw me spending most of my waking hours over at the Sporting Club at the EPT Grand Final helping cover the France Poker Series Monaco Main Event.

On Thursday the tournament played out Day 1b, which was énorme with 912 players coming out for that flight alone. The 1,261-player total for the event well exceeds the 993 who played it last year, and marks the second-biggest field in the six-year history of the FPS.

They ended up seating folks all over the place in a few different locations, which meant a lot of steps for your humble scribbler (and scrambler). We added still more to our total when going for a jaunt over the border to Nice for dinner at the same Vietnamese restaurant we enjoyed going to a year ago.

I wrote a post here then titled “Monaco is a Maze” describing the walk to the restaurant and featuring a picture of the steep stairwell going up about five flights to get to that eating establishment. Well, this year that stairwell was blocked, which meant a long, winding trek and a lot of uphill to get there this time, then we found a slightly shorter path involving a couple of mysterious elevators that helped get us back. (Over 16,000 steps that day, if we’re counting)

That night ended with one of those silly moments only those who do a lot of this tournament reporting thing find fun. Having literally eyeballed a player’s stack for no more than one-third of a second before the chips got dumped into a bag, I ventured a guess to my blogging partner-in-crime Nick they totaled 263,000 and turned out to have guessed the amount exactly. This story I then repeated at least a half-dozen times before leaving as joking self-promotion of extraordinary powers of perception.

Friday saw the bubble burst, as pictured above -- can you spot me in the crowd? (click to embiggen) -- after which the big field got carved all of the way down to 60 players. Again, it was mostly business as usual, reporting-wise, with Nick and I surviving the day in good shape and enjoying a surprisingly early finish as staff decided to cut things short by a level.

Poker-wise, it was interesting to see the Brazilian Leonardo Pires enter the day as the chip leader, more than double his stack during the first two hours to sit with over 700,000 when no one else had half that, then in a little over two hours more get knocked out with a min-cash. Pires was the same fella who led several days in a row at the PCA this year before going out in 13th.

I’ve actually already slept a couple of hours tonight (and yes, I’m counting), and so am gonna try not to distract myself looking at score updates from Game 6 of Hornets-Heat and go back to sleep right now. I mean all these mouton aren’t going to count themselves.

Photo: courtesy Neil Stoddart/PokerStars blog.

Travel Report: EPT12 Grand Final, Day 2 -- Step by Step

Was a long one at the Sporting Club in Monte Carlo today helping over the first Day 1 flight of the France Poker Series Main Event. Basically a noon-to-midnight workday this time, as it will similarly be for the next few days for your humble scribbler.

The poker went about as expected, with a big turnout of 349 entries -- well over the number who played Day 1a of this same event a year ago, which suggests tomorrow’s second and last Day 1 flight will be fairly massive. They managed to play down to just 91 tonight, although I expect tomorrow we’ll see the Day 1b field end with more than twice that still with chips.

Lots of steps today registered on the FitBit -- something like 14,000, I think, just about all taken going back and forth between the media room and the main tournament area. Started to flag near the end after having had only four or so hours’ sleep last night, but made it through more or less in one piece.

At least I didn’t start out the day playing a set of tennis as did my blogging colleagues, Stephen and Howard. They bought a pass to play over at the nearby Monte Carlo Country Club, something I believe they’ve done before in past years, and after playing happened to see none other than Novak Djokovic, currently the top-ranked men’s tennis player in the world (by a lot), working out on a nearby court. No shinola!

Not too much to report otherwise so I’m gonna cut it short and try to get some more rest tonight. Am a little tempted to stay up late for the Hornets-Heat Game 5 (which starts at 2 a.m. here, but I imagine I wouldn’t last very long even if I stayed up late enough for the tip.

Better to rest up for another day full of steps tomorrow. Meanwhile, check the PokerStars blog for all the scoop on what happened today both in the FPS Monaco and the second day of the 10K Single Re-Entry High Roller.

Photo: courtesy Jules Pochy/PokerStars blog.

Travel Report: EPT12 Grand Final, Day 1 -- Early Fireworks and a Side of lasagnaaammm

After sleeping a solid 12 hours -- from before midnight to almost noon -- your humble scribbler had more or less gotten his body clock in order here in Monaco and was ready for the first day of action at the European Poker Tour Grand Final at the Sporting Club in Monte Carlo.

Thankfully today’s Day 1 of the €10,000 Single Re-Entry High Roller event wasn’t scheduled to start until 6 p.m., which gave me a chance to get a few things done and relax some more during the afternoon before heading over. The tournament drew a bigger field than I think was expected, with nearly 180 entries on the first day (and late registration open a couple of levels into tomorrow’s Day 2).

Aside from reuniting with several good friends and colleagues with whom I get to work at each of these EPTs, there were a couple of other highlights during the day.

One was an unexpected fireworks show happening out over the Mediterranean late in the evening -- loud, bright, and majestic. Our work area has a few large windows looking out over the sea, each framing a nice view of the show. (That’s a shot by Rene Villi of the PokerStars blog up above, taken from the outside.)

The other came via Marc Convey, my longtime blogging partner with whom I’ve been working on events for something like eight years now. Knowing how I enjoy the personality of the Italian player Mustapha Kanit, a.k.a. “lasagnaaammm,” Convey -- without my knowing it -- got Mustapha to deliver a personal update of his chip count for me:

To @hardboiledpoker "I'm never short stacked, bro!" @Mustacchione #EPTGrandFinal pic.twitter.com/JyyA4JVWHE

— Marc Convey (@The_Conv) April 26, 2016

Gonna cut it off there and hit the hay now, as I’m looking at a much shorter night’s sleep tonight before getting back at it tomorrow starting at noon. I’ll Moving over to help cover the France Poker Series Monaco Main Event, where the field will be considerably bigger. Meanwhile you can check the PokerStars blog to see what happened during today’s action.

Photo: courtesy René Velli/PokerStars blog.

Travel Report: EPT12 Grand Final, Arrival -- From Green to Blue

Bonjour mes amis. I am writing late on a Monday night from a hotel in Monaco, having arrived here earlier today. It’s my home-away-from-home for the next couple of weeks as I’ll be helping with the reporting from the European Poker Tour’s final stop of Season 12.

Took the red-eye to London, then had another two-hour hop down to Nice. Both flights were fine, with the first half of the transatlantic one occupied by dinner and a viewing of Oliver Stone’s JFK.

Had seen it long ago, of course, but this time through watched with a much more thorough understanding of the different conspiracies Stone weaves together to create his narrative. Also knew practically all of the bit players introduced throughout the story -- i.e., the historical versions, I mean -- and so was even aware of embellishments and omissions here and there.

The all-encompassing monologue delivered by Donald Sutherland’s “Mr. X” (based on L. Fletcher Prouty) is the great highlight, of course, signaling a recognition, I think, that the scope of the mystery is ultimately too great for any single person to be capable of tackling alone. In other words, a conspiracy of investigators (which now would have to involve members of several different generations) would have to come together in order to unravel fully a conspiracy that resulted in JFK’s killing.

A shuttle carried me from Nice to Monaco, one I shared with Jason Mercier and Natasha Barbour, both here to play, of course. Talked playoffs with Mercier a bit, as he’s a Heat fan and I’m for the Hornets, although I’m not too enthusiastic about Charlotte’s chances against Miami.

Took it easy during the afternoon, then met up with several of the fellas for a delicious dinner at an Italian place called Risotrante Mozza located not too far from where we’re staying. For an appetizer had insalata tiepida di polpo, that is, a salad with potatoes and octopus that was mouthwateringly flavorful. Then it was pizza for the main course, the tartufo featuring truffle and potato slices with rocket salad on top, also delicious.

Expect to have a few more nice meals along the way here, although there will be the occasional 20-euro cheeseburger thrown in as well.

Weather here is comparable to back home -- blue skies, sunny, and a light wind making it very spring-like. The deep blue water of the Mediterranean Sea out back (see above) contrasts sharply with the green on the farm, though, which I’m already missing as Vera sends me another picture of Sammy, Maggie, and our yearling, Ruby (a.k.a., the “Roobster”).

It’ll be a late start tomorrow as the first big event, the €10,000 Single Re-Entry High Roller, doesn’t get going until 6 p.m. local time. You can follow reports over on the PokerStars blog.

Gonna try while here to provide some brief reports on the blog each night after things conclude. Have a big day, in terms of the history of Hard-Boiled Poker, coming up this Thursday, though, where I may have to write about something else, too. Any guesses what that might be?

Comedy, Poker, and the “Call Back”

Easily the most interesting hand from the final table of the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final Main Event that finished up last Friday was the one in which eventual winner Adrian Mateos successfully bluffed Johnny Lodden when the tournament was down to just four players.

If you watched the final table or followed the coverage on PokerNews, you know the hand. It began as a family pot, then after both Mateos and Lodden missed the flop both players made plays to knock out the other two (one of whom had to fold what was then the best hand).

The gamesmanship continued to the river where Mateos -- then the chip leader -- pushed all in with jack-high and Lodden thought seriously about calling with pocket fives (with a couple of aces and a nine on board). Finally Lodden folded, though, and Mateos showed his bluff afterwards.

I wrote something about the hand today over on PokerNews, not necessarily trying to analyze it fully but rather just looking at hands preceding that one in which Mateos similarly just called preflop raises -- kind of guessing that might have been one (of a few) factors Lodden was considering when trying to decide about Mateos’s range of hands at the end.

In the article I also talk some about the sitcom Cheers -- a favorite of mine that I’ve written about here before -- connecting the idea of a comedy “call back” with what happens in poker when a player’s action in one hand recalls something from an earlier hand. You can check it out here: “The ‘Call Back’: On That Epic Adrian Mateos-Johnny Lodden EPT Grand Final Hand.”

Travel Report: EPT11 Grand Final, Day 10 -- Nice Finish

Coupla young guns took down the big ones during yesterday’s climactic conclusion of the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final festival, the last EPT stop of Season 11.

Adrian Mateos won the Main and the €1,082,000 that went with it. Mateos won an Estrellas Poker Tour event at 18, the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event at 19, and now an EPT Main Event at 20. He turns 21 right before the WSOP Main Event this year. Charlie Carrel won the €25K High Roller, earning an even bigger prize of €1,114,000. Already an formidable online whiz, Carrel just turned 21 last November.

I spent the day riding out some of the last of the many side events helping making up the 78-tourney sked, including a fairly intriguing €10K Turbo. In that one both Scott Seiver and Dzmitry Urbanovich went deep (again), but Igor Yaroshevskyy ultimately took it down. Seiver placed fourth and Urbanovich third, with the latter sealing up the EPT Season 11 Player of the Year with that finish.

Meanwhile here this morning I finish up my travel reports from the Nice Côte d'Azur International Airport. During these last two weeks we crossed back and forth to Nice several times for dinners, that picture above being right around the border. We’d answer the question “Where are you going for dinner?” with “France.”

The Nice airport is, well, nice, although nearly everything is closed at this early hour. Birds chirp away in the rafters here in the terminal into which the rising sun, still low on the horizon, shines blindingly to make passengers shun the seats facing in that direction.

Speaking of horizons, the WSOP will be coming up soon and indeed a lot of the talk near the end of the festival was about expectations there. Going to both the PCA and EPT Grand Final this year might have affected my perspective somewhat, but I find myself thinking more and more of the EPTs as the “major league” of tournament poker (at least from a global perspective), while the WSOP -- though obviously still the “sun” of the tourney calendar around which all else revolves -- signifies differently.

The announcement this week of the WSOP Europe schedule -- happening in Berlin this time in October -- didn’t seem to be greeted with that much response, and I’ve already heard some talking about EPT Malta (with which it’ll run up against) being a preferred destination then. (I refer, of course, to those who actually have a choice between the two.)

Still, I am looking forward to seeing how things play out in LV. As I sit here amid the chirping birds and rattling of storefronts beginning to open, I miss my LAPT friends down in Panama where that Main Event just got going yesterday.

But I’ve been missing even more Vera and our four-legged friends, where I’m excited to be galloping in later today. Find myself thinking of this song for some reason, even if I’ve been in Monaco, not “Paree” -- and even though I can’t wait to get back on the farm:

Travel Report: EPT11 Grand Final, Day 9 -- Election Day

We’re careening toward the finish here, with just one more day to go in the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final. Was another interesting day of poker between the side events and seeing both the Main and High Roller play down to set up Friday’s final days for both.

Meanwhile one of my blogging colleagues, Stephen Bartley, was sweating a different competition happening about 800 miles northwest of here. As he’s been chronicling on his blog “Whitstable... not the West Wing” over the last few months, Stephen has been a candidate for councillor back in his home near Canterbury. As even those in the U.S. might well have heard, yesterday was Election Day in the U.K., so while Stephen was here with us people were at the polls all day voting either for or against him.

Calm for most of the day, the first outward sign Stephen was a candidate for office came shortly after 11 p.m. our time when those initial exit poll figures were announced, numbers which were quite different from what had been projected. My position as an outside observer both of the U.K. political process and of my friend who was personally involved in it kind of resembled where I stand when watching a poker tournament, save for my having much more of a rooting interest.

I left him and the various events still going on around midnight, going back to my hotel where I watched BBC 1 and followed more of the commentary about it all. Meanwhile Stephen was up all night following the returns gradually coming in, then a little bit before play started today he received the good news that he’d won his race.

Pursuing the poker analogy a little further, from what I gather regarding his campaign, there was probably some luck involved regarding the outcome of his race, by which I refer to anything outside of his control including regional and national trends and their affect on a local race such as the one in which he was involved. But clearly there was skill, too, under which heading we might include the management of his campaign (with which he had help from others) and the quality of the candidate, who clearly was running for all the right reasons.

Stephen’s helped me a lot during my turns working at the EPT and in other respects, and I know many others have benefited from his generosity, too. And I’m thrilled he’s now earned the chance to help still more people, which was clearly the reward for which he took this risk.

To see who else wins today besides Stephen, check over at the PokerStars blog.

Travel Report: EPT11 Grand Final, Day 8 -- The Skies Open Up, and the Return of Boat Crane

Two moments stood out from the rest during this eighth day of 10 of my helping report on the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final festival for the PokerStars blog, both happening during the late afternoon, early evening -- just around the dinner hour.

One happened when a group of us walked outside for a little fresh air. As I’ve been noting here off and on, walking around Monte Carlo is especially pleasurable thanks both to the temperate weather and picturesque views in every direction.

We headed out toward the water in back of the Monte Carlo Bay Resort and Hotel, moving slowly when suddenly both Stephen Bartley and Howard Swains -- many-year vets of Monaco -- looked up and shouted out as one.

“Boat crane!”

Amid the usual run of cruise ships and other vessels criss-crossing just off the coast was the one being singled out by their cry, an odd-looking industrial vehicle floating just in front of us. A regular sight and thus frequent subject of conversation between them during previous visits, they were humorously delighted to see their old blue steel friend reappear again for the first time since we’ve been here. (Click to embiggen pics.)

The other moment occurred in the main tournament room when I just happened to be there when a decision was made to open the roof, something else the others have seen many times before.

Very uncanny feeling, having the somewhat overcast sky suddenly open up above us as the seagulls traced diagonals overhead. Instantly everyone was grinning as the room full of poker players and staff grew relatively quiet, almost solemn. The air being let in was brisk, too, cutting through the slightly stuffy darkness from before.

The contrast was remarkable. Like a spell being cast. Suddenly a comment by someone passing helped me ease back into reality.

“So... we can smoke now? Oui?”

For more from the EPT Grand Final, keep visiting the the PokerStars blog.

Travel Report: EPT11 Grand Final, Day 7 -- Take Nothing Less Than the Second Best

Some might recognize that title from Curtis Mayfield’s “Move On Up” -- kind of an odd line, actually, that I’ve never really contemplated too deeply thanks to the joyous sounds pulsating around it.

The line was stuck in my head somewhat last night while following one of the side events at the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final, something called a “Second Best Hold’em” tournament that I believe has never been tried before.

As the name suggests, in this variation of regular NLHE the second best hand wins the pot at showdown. Or perhaps the name doesn’t immediately suggest that to everyone, as I’m pretty sure one player who sat at the start thought it referred to the player finishing second winning the most prize money or some sort of bonus.

The format perhaps translates into a quirky version of lowball when hands are heads-up, but with three or more players it becomes very hard to imagine how best to play. Or should I say, how to play second best.

Jennifer Shahade played the event and ultimately cashed, and spoke with her briefly about strategy during a break, if you’re curious. Here’s that post: “An event for those good at making second best hands.”

Like I say, it’s an odd line in the song (I’ve always thought), and it was an odd tournament as well. One of many side events, though, that are keeping things interesting.

The media event was last night also, where I struggled along before running pocket eights into pocket kings, and five cards later my hand was second best.

For more from the EPT Grand Final, keep visiting the the PokerStars blog.

Travel Report: EPT11 Grand Final, Day 6 -- Side Dishes

I’m mostly on side events here at the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final festival -- and there are a ton of them.

The schedule has 78 events total packed into less than two weeks, although some of those numbered events are satellites and thus not ones I’m necessarily reporting on, except occasionally perhaps to note who is winning seats in the big ones to the two Super High Rollers and the High Roller.

As far as “trophy” events go, there are 56 altogether (I believe), with most being one- or two-day tournaments. It’s kind of like the WSOP, with nearly as many events -- and a decent variety of games and stakes -- but packed more tightly into a couple weeks rather than stretched out over nearly two months.

I find myself constantly distracted as I’m darting around from tournament to tournament, or when at the laptop gathering what I need to compile reports. There’s always something interesting happening, and the fact that so many “name” players are here and are jumping into practically any tournament, helps give add interest even to the smallest buy-in events.

While Monaco is obviously an expensive place, having all of these very affordable tournaments firing off all of the time has to be a lot of fun for many who commit to being here for most or all of the festival. The tourney booklet listing all of the events and satellites really is like one long menu, with something for practically any appetite.

Back at it today. Head to the PokerStars blog for reports on everything, and check the “Side event reports” page to taste from those side dishes in particular.

Travel Report: EPT11 Grand Final, Day 5 -- The Day Supper Spoiled My Supper

Finished the first half of my 10-day stint here at the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final with yesterday’s final table of the France Poker Series Main Event, a tournament that turned out to be quite enjoyable to cover with a kind of crazy finish to punctuate it.

I’d forgotten to mention a couple of days ago my post describing the bubble bursting in this event, one in which I described that happening without using the word “bubble.” Here’s that one: “On the thing that bursts after which everyone cashes.”

From 993 entrants, 143 made the money, and they were down to just seven for yesterday’s last day of play. One fellow, the Frenchman Gilles Silbernagel, was down to a half-dozen big blinds before doubling up three separate times to take the chip lead.

Then another, Sebastian Supper, was down to even fewer big blinds (about five) when he tripled up. A little later Supper won a huge all-in to double up into the chip lead when both he and Silbernagel turned straights, and after they were all in he drew a better one on the river. And he didn’t even realize he was freerolling!

Supper ended up going on to win, which provided an opportunity to caption a post “A finish satisfying Supper” in the recap. A student from Germany studying geography and chemistry, he was a very likable winner among a final table full of interesting, genial-seeming characters.

The tournament lasted too long for me to enjoy a proper evening meal. Indeed, it’s possible I once more had another of those twenty-Euro burgers mentioned previously in this space. Supper spoiled my supper, you could say.

Back today to focus on various side events while the Main Event continues to cruise along. Check the PokerStars blog for the full skinny from the EPT Grand Final.

Travel Report: EPT11 Grand Final, Day 4 -- The Twenty-Euro Cheeseburger

Another late one last night as they played down to a final table (and then a little longer) in the France Poker Series Monaco Main Event here at the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final festival.

That’s the tournament I’m covering, and thus for me that €100K Super High Roller final table (eventually won by Erik Seidel) existed mainly in the periphery as the night wore on. Even further distant were all of the other big sporting events playing out over night, including the Kentucky Derby, the NBA playoffs, and the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight.

The EPT’s Main Event also kicked off yesterday, which meant all of us were especially busy throughout the day and night. Didn’t have a chance to get away for a meal offsite this time, and so experienced that phenomenon everyone who has ever come here seems to mention afterwards -- the €20 cheeseburger.

There’s a bar close to the tournament area serving food that is really the only option for those without time to walk very far, at which the prices are exorbitant. Of course, that’s true of other parts of the city as well, although it’s possible to find restaurants with decently-priced meals if one is willing to look hard enough.

The line “I don’t want to say Monaco is expensive but...” is a much used set-up for various punchlines here. For a sample of what I’m talking about, check out Joe Stapleton’s Twitter feed from the the last few days for some of his lines and retweets of others’.

Gonna cut it short and try to walk in again today. I can’t afford to spend a whole cheeseburger on a cab ride.

Travel Report: EPT11 Grand Final, Day 3 -- Monaco is a Maze

I mentioned before how I’ve been walking into work each morning, a trip that essentially carries me through the heart of Monte Carlo. It’s about a mile-and-a-half walk, I think, and takes exactly half an hour, giving me a chance to enjoy some fresh air and the beautiful view of the Mediterranean before spending the rest of my day inside the Monte Carlo Bay Resort and Hotel.

As anyone who has been here well knows, every single inch of space is being used in this small principality, with buildings crammed close together and none-too-wide streets winding snake-like in and out and up and down. The sidewalks are narrow, too, most not even allowing space enough for two people to walk side-by-side.

The city is built on levels as well, meaning as I wind my way eastward to my destination I’m also mostly going downhill, the grade being quite high. I’ve found myself taking different routes each time as previously unlocked gates will be closed or other obstacles arise forcing me to take a different angle. That hairpin turn I was writing about a couple of posts back is kind of a theme of the place, given how often everyone -- pedestrians and drivers -- have to turn back and then back again to get where they want to go.

That above is a picture of the steep stairwell I descended to get to the venue today, one dropping down about five levels. Went back up it later on to have a nice dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant located just across the border in France.

Once I get to the Monte Carlo Bay Resort and Hotel, I again have a long, winding path back to the tournament area located behind the main casino and hotel. That one also forces me to make several turns, with signs providing a guide that I relied on the first couple of times going over.

Then once I go to work I’m again doing a lot of walking from room to room through crowds of people, negotiating tight passages between ropes and tables that again makes me feel like I’m inside a maze. I counted the steps from the media room to the far corner of the main tournament room where the France Poker Series Monaco Main Event was playing out (the one I’m covering), and it added up to 150.

Definitely getting plenty of exercise here. Physically, sure. And mentally, too, as I try to anticipate the next turn while continuing to move forward.

Check the PokerStars blog today to see what all I happen to find amid my wandering around.

Travel Report: EPT11 Grand Final, Day 2 -- Racing Around

Another quick post today after another long night at the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final festival.

Was a monster second Day 1 flight for the France Poker Series Monaco Main Event, with 728 coming out to make a total field of 993 -- way over last year’s 837. The €100K Super High Roller had over 50 entries as well, making it a big one, too, with all of the usual big names taking part. (See the PokerStars blog for details.)

Amid my racing around covering the FPS Monaco event, I took a pit stop and did a different kind of racing in a faux Formula 1 car they have set up out in the lobby for passersby to try out. You crawl into that sucker in order to operate the gas and brake pedals and steer your way through a computer-simulated version of the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix.

I did three laps. My time was poor for the first one when I cautiously negotiated the length of the course without ever really revving up my engine significantly. Then my times for the next two laps were even worse as I tried to go faster but kept crashing into walls all over Monte Carlo.

I mentioned my poor sense of direction last post. A couple of times after wrecking and having to back my way out of the imbroglio I’d caused, I even found it challenging to figure out which way I was then supposed to go. Luckily I don’t think the program allowed you to backtrack on the course, or I may still be trying.

I am glad to report, however, that I have now more or less memorized the walk from my hotel to the tournament venue, as I took that half-hour long promenade yesterday morning. Will probably continue to do that each day, weather permitting, as the walk there is downhill and much easier, not to mention it will be dark for the trips back (although everything is lighted well and pedestrian-friendly, even at night).

As I say, drive over to the PokerStars blog today for more.

Travel Report: EPT11 Grand Final, Day 1 -- Hairpin Turns

One day in and I am already fairly swamped here at the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final festival.

For my first day I was mostly occupied with the France Poker Series Monaco Main Event, which saw a modest-sized turnout of 265 players come out for the €1,100 buy-in tournament. They’re expecting a lot more on Thursday, however, for the second of two Day 1 flights, so we’ll see if they manage to challenge the total of 837 who played that event a year ago.

Have already experienced some of the exorbitant pricing of food and transportation here in Monte Carlo, having taken some pricey cab rides and enjoying a fine dinner with my PokerStars blog colleagues Stephen and Howard.

I managed to get away from the venue for a bit in order to meet them at a restaurant called Polpetta, one they’d come to know and could recommend after having been here many years in a row. Had a delicious fish soup appetizer and a flavorful dish of spaghetti scampi for the main course, which was plenty satisfying.

Gonna have to cut it short here unfortunately, as I expect I’ll be doing throughout the next week-and-a-half thanks mainly to the fact that while my accommodations are great, it’s taking extra time for me to get to the Monte Carlo Bay Hotel and Casino and back. Took cabs today, although I may walk it this morning if only to enjoy the nice weather and see some sites.

Got a preview of that walk last night with my dinner companions, including negotiating the famous hairpin turn pictured above -- the “Fairmont Hairpin” -- from the Circuit de Monaco where they run the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix each year. In fact that will be happening about three weeks from now, I believe.

I have walked around a lot already during my couple of days here, and the sharp “hairpin” turn is kind of a theme thanks to the way the buildings and pedestrian walkways are laid out. And also thanks to my especially poor sense of direction, which often has me turning back whether on the streets of an unfamiliar city or trying to find my way through a casino.

For more from Monaco, head over to the PokerStars blog where in addition to more FPS Monaco coverage, the big €100K Super High Roller gets going today.