FULL TILT POKER BLOG

The World’s Game

Posted by Storms | Filed under Uncategorized

Pot Limit Omaha has traditionally been the variation of poker most favored by Europeans. While the popularity of the game has remained fairly stagnant in the States, it has always flourished on the Continent, growing so beloved at the height of its growth that it nearly rivaled that other game cherished by Europeans, soccer. In an interesting conjunction the two sports collided today on the floor of the Rio Convention Center as it grew increasingly apparent that the World Cup final between Italy and France was stealing the collective attention of the players entered in the PLO tournament, a large percentage of whom were of European descent.

When the soccer game finally went to penalty kicks after 120 plus minutes of action, the tournament director put it to a vote: if enough players wanted to watch the shootout the tournament would be momentarily halted. It was something Benny or Jack Binion might have done as a favor to the players and a nice reminder that as big as the tournament has gotten it hasn’t gotten so big that it can’t accommodate an impromptu break.

The decision to halt the tournament was universally cheered by the players, and one of the giddiest was Jen Harman, who had been paying far more attention to the television than her cards. “I haven’t even really been playing in this tournament,” she admitted. “I’ve just been watching the soccer game. All my family comes from Italy. My husband comes from Italy. It’s a heritage thing.”

The players flocked around the large-screen television situated at one end of the room in a loose half-circle reminiscent of a family gathered around a Christmas tree on the morning of December 25. Side bets were made on who would win and by what margin, but for Harman the outcome of the game was too important to wager on. “I didn’t want to bet on the game because I was afraid I would jinx them. I was terrified when they went to penalty kicks because they never win them. Penalty kicks are way too nerve-wracking. Someone wanted to bet me $1,000, and I said, ‘No way. I don’t want to bet.’”

After Italy converted all five of its penalty kicks to win the world championship, no one in the room was more elated than Harman. “Marco [her husband] and I will be celebrating later tonight. We have a ton of Italian friends. I’m sure they’re all at Roma Deli right now. You probably can’t even hear anyone talk over the noise. I’m glad it’s over, and Italy won. Now I can start playing poker.”

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