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#501 – London 2008 #8 – Million Pound Challenge – Ivey Brings the Game … and the Party
It’s 5:35 PM. We just finished an hour-break. After a few minutes of action, we’re down to about 25 players. They are playing 800-1,600 and seemingly racing toward the finish. But there’s a very interesting game going on BEHIND the game.
I’ll get info on today’s finalists but while the field has been devouring itself, The Pros arrived. Andy Bloch, Chris Ferguson, Joe Beevers, Barny Boatman, Phil Ivey, Roland de Wolfe, Allen Cunningham.
I won’t say the presence of these seven made anyone WANT to bust. But no one seemed who busted seemed like they were in much of a rush to leave, with the prospect of bending elbows with Ivey, Ferguson, et al. in the back of the room. Lots of questions were asked, admirations were declared, and pictures were posed and taken.
Tomorrow, the Champion will play Ivey, Ferguson, and de Wolfe heads-up, and will be coached by Bloch and Cunningham. I heard Uncle Tilty trying to get one of the Hendon Mob to join in the coaching effort tomorrow, to give the mix an English flavor. “Cunningham and Bloch?”, the Hendon Mobster explained. “Isn’t that coaching enough? Why would the player need more than that?”
By the way, it’s now 5:45 PM and we’re down to 22 players. But it’s a moving target. One of the production assistants was nice enough jot down the names of the remaining players and – breathlessly – hand them over. The list has 26 names, spread among 4 tables, and about half the names were written so quickly as to be illegible. I will try to get an account of the survivors sometime near the end of play, or at least give you informaiton on the six at the final table.
One of the things I noticed was that my table for the next 3 1/2 days was removed during the break. I hope they put it back but I don’t expect them to. It was a poker table in play and, with no need to house those players, it would take an extraordinary effort to restore it just so I can have the work-space.
And I never even got to use it. After the table had been vacated and the players disbursed, I readied to move my equipment to that choice locale. By choice locale, I mean that it had a chair and a place to spread out. Previously, I’d been hanging, like a sloth on the wall, and was looking forward to something resembling a desk, even if that “desk” was a poker table.
No such luck. No sooner had I packed my computer than I noticed there was a crowd around the table. Phil Ivey and Roland de Wolfe were playing Chinese Poker. Based on something Uncle Tilty mentioned, I decided not to try to move them.
During the break, we all gathered across the street for dim sum. someone asked how much Phil had won from him. “A lot,” Roland said, with kind of a stunned smile, his eyes a little glazed.
Uncle Tilty told me they flew to London together in a private jet and played Chinese Poker all the way. Roland lost so much during the flight that he had to pay for the jet.
Despite the winners and losers – mostly losers – a party atmosphere prevails. When they get closer to the final six, I imagine play will slow down and the atmosphere will become grim. But for now, the upstairs area has been cleared out as a bar, lovely Maria is pouring the drinks, and busted players, girlfriends, and Full Tilt pros are chatting, drinking, and laughing.
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