You never know what to expect when a new property hosts a major tournament, especially when the tournament is in another country. To be honest, I was a little nervous and I was not sure what to expect. I felt somewhat responsible, given that this event took place in my country.
Now I can say I'm not nervous:
Croupiers: Without exaggeration, this is the best team I've had the chance to see. Of course, there were a few errors here and there, but the dealers Fallsview really pay attention to the game and know how to make adjustments, which always helps. Humberto Brenes and "Costa Rican Connection" had only good things to say about the dealers.
The floor staff: They listen. They listen to you What can you ask for? The tournament was very well run and, therefore, whenever a decision which might have seemed odd was taken, the tournament director has always done an excellent job explaining the reasons behind it.
Satellites: Satellites gave ample play What I mean by this is that these satellites lasted between three thirty ET four hours it was good news! For cons, the bad news was that the wait was too long, because demand exceeded supply. The satelittes took place in the usual poker room and therefore, only six tables were available. The waiting list for the satellite therefore included regularly over 60 names.
The reason for this inconvenience was not the staff's fault: they had not been allowed to make these satellites in the tournament hall, which should be a point that will be corrected in the future.
In fact, if they could make super-satellites for this event, I sincerely believe that Fallviews could potentially break the record of participants in a WPT event. Canada is crazy poker!
The tournament hall: Excellent! Very quiet. The tables were far enough apart so that nobody felt stuck. At the back of the room, there distributed all day food and beverage absolutely free. It even offered vegetarian wraps! The players had a badge allowing them access to the area tournament, so even if there was enough room for spectators to watch the action there, it was not intrusive to the players.
The structure of the tournament: It was undoubtedly the slowest structure WPT history. It was even a little too slow, actually. Each player started with 20,000 chips, and unlike events at the Bellagio where the blinds were beginning to 50-100, for this event, the blinds were starting to 25-25. So players were starting with a total of 800 made ... wow! In my opinion, the first level should have been spent, and we should just start 25-50. Although the 25-25 level was added to the structure, it lacked a high level that had been removed. In a typical tournament, the levels are 50-100, 100-200, 100-200 and then with antes. It was rather 25-25, 25-50, 50-100, 100-200 with antes: so we passed the 100-200 level without antes.
Hospitality: All professional players who made the trip to Fallview seem to have been treated very well. The rooms were fantastic, and I wish you could see the view I had! When I got up in the morning and I looked out the window, I had an aerial view of the falls. Imagine the view you would from a helicopter walking over the falls, and you have a good idea of what I could see from my window.
The nightlife: I had a blast! A little too much, actually. The nightclub was packed and if you're a "person bar" Bar 365 is a really great place to hang out. In fact, I think Gavin Smith organized a party there tonight. I am burned out and I plan to take a little sleep to be fresh and ready for tomorrow.
Some other small miscellaneous facts are worth mentioning:
- Seats won in satellites were transferable. It was not good for the event. And not only that: if you lost your paper certifying that you paid, you could potentially lose the value of your seat ($ 10,000). I'm sure we will look at this problem for next year.
- Entries after day one were accepted: the standard should be close entries after the first two hours of play
- MP3 and Ipod were not allowed in the playground .. I think it was a Canadian settlement.
Towards the end of the first day, the leaders were almost all professionals:
Steven Ambrose (Canadian WPT champion)
Amnon Filippi
Thomas Wahlroos
John Juanda
Alan Goehring
Liz Lieu
John D'Agostino
Dan Harrington
Eli Elezra
Barry Greenstein
Victor Ramdin
Isabelle Mercier
JC Tran.
From my side, I played in the first tournament to $ 2500 and I did my best, but I made two bad calls after two good fold (two folds would have won). It was weird, because if I did not "try" to play well, I probably called with these two hands, but I preferred the right decision to that was a gamble.
Basically, I ACTD and the flop fell Jc6c2c. I bet the flop, and another raise. Then, another made a mega check-raise. I then said that I had the best 7 outs, and I could well be against an already full color or against a set. As matter of fact, I was: the first was JJJ while the second had 9cTc. The turn brought a 7c and I would have won a huge pot. Too bad that I wanted to play!
Before leaving Niagara, I made a little "training" at George Brown University. It was incroyale: there were about 60 people with their notebook and laptop, ready to listen to me teach in a classroom for 5 hours ...!
I was a little nervous to go there, because it is difficult for someone to speak for so long, but I finished the day and things went well.
It is rewarding to accomplish something so large. I had some interesting ideas on how to teach poker to people, and when I have finished writing my book, I'll start putting some energy into teaching.
Speaking of books, I have just two books that are about to be launched. One of those there is a project on which I work very hard. It will be a big book with several collaborators. The other is a book rather a compilation of various articles that I have written more specifically on Texas Hold'Em. Two very different books, but I think both are worth it!
What else? Oh yes! My team hockey pool, the "Cheap Thieves" begins to break. If you could understand how much I'm addicted pools, you would understand that when my "Cheap Thieves" going well, I'm fine too!
Good night everyone, it's time for me to go to sleep!
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30 October: it makes a little bit...< Prev
