COPENHAGEN

COPENHAGEN


Greetings to everyone who reads my blog. I feel I should thank both of you.

My online play is certainly being put on hold at the moment, but when you are given the oportunity to pop over to Copenhagen, you have to jump at the chance. I plan to get back into the online groove as soon as I return, but, for the moment, I'm just going to try and enjoy my venture abroad. Although I'm having to work quite hard, it's nice to have a change. Sitting staring at a computer screen can drive you mad sometimes. Hold on! That's what I'm doing now.

First thing’s first. Copenhagen is FREEZING! And I thought Birmingham was cold? Well, I was living in ignorance, because this place is even colder. I understand that every day has dropped below freezing, -7 Celcius at one point. A quick glance out of my window and I have to remind myself that I’m not in the Artic. There’s a good few inches of the white stuff outside (No, not milk). In fact, I’m pretty chuffed that it snowed. It doesn’t really affect us much because poker is thankfully an indoor sport, but it looks somewhat picturesque and helps make the trip that much more memorable.

But that’s enough about the weather, that’s an English topic. Back to the poker, which, is er… so much more Danish. Hmm. Anyhow, yesterday was kinda hectic. Not sure why I’m so surprised, but there are oh so many Scandies here and if they don’t share the same names, they are totally unpronounceable. What’s the deal with that? Way too many consonants. Can we have a vowel please Carol?

So, as you can imagine, writing the starting runners, or jotting down a quick chip list is a complex process and requires much focusing on your key presses. I doubt anyone would notice a Scandie typo, but it’s amicable to get these guy’s names right.

There were a few recognisable names amid the sea of gibberish. Barney Boatman, Julian Thew, Xuyen Pham, and Joe Grech were all present. Even Chris Moneymaker had made the long trip. A quiet fella who was dealt a horrific bad beat. His top set was outdrawn by bottom set on the river. Ouch!

I always find it surreal when I meet a select handful of pros. Devilfish was one. I met him briefly in Sheffield. I mean, I treat most famous players like normal guys and don’t seem to get too star struck. However, when I was at Napoleon's and Devilfish stepped up to the reception desk beside me, I found it very surreal indeed. Not sure what it is, perhaps it’s all those Late Night Pokers I’ve seen him on. It was odd.

Well, the same feelings occurred when I heard the familiar vocal tones of a Mr Gus Hansen. Perched right behind me looking for his table, Gus stood out like a sore thumb. The cameras and photographers swarmed his table and watched his every movement. I’ve watched him so often on Challenge TV that I found it really strange that he was suddenly right behind me. I think you begin to believe they’re not real, just characters on your box.

What I’ll be like if I ever meet Shania Hiatt, I have no idea. The words legs and jelly spring to mind though.

The night of reporting was relatively smooth. I did encounter some early connection problems, but a brisk reshuffle into the lobby solved that problem.

Although Moneymaker, Hansen, Fraser, and other recognisable names had dropped, we still had the likes of Thew, Pham, and Boatman flying the flag. My fingers were crossed for these guys, not only because they are top chaps (& chapette) but because I knew that viewers could lose interest in the thread. I mean, does anyone really care if Mr Pedersen or Mrs Bjorn win. We don’t know who they are, so why would anyone be interested in their progress.

Barney may have fell with around 60 left, but Yoyo and Bad Girl both made it to the end of level 9, thereby earning their passport into Day 2. In fact, Xuyem is currently tournament chip leader with 89k. Unfortunately, Julian is just below average with 24k after suffering a big loss when his low straight was outstraighted. (Add that to the poker glossary)

So, in less than an hour, the aptly named Day 1B commences. This time I shall be enjoying the company of Luske, Hachem, Vaswani, and Mr Burns himself, Dave Colclough. I sincerely hope that Marcel makes it deep into this comp. I’d love to see him play and I always think his presence lightens up what can sometimes become a dreary atmosphere.

Hopefully, if I find a spare hour, I’ll be able to report back tomorrow. For now, it’s almost time to set up camp in the press room, braced for another long day. Hopefully there’ll be a host of English faces for me to keep a close eye on. If not, well I’ll have to befriend some of the Scandies. I’m not too keen on that plan though. Young, rich, and good looking. Grr. I’ve only got one of them, and even that’s fast slipping away.