As I started play on Day 1B, we had a full day to recuperate and look around Monaco. Unfortunately for us it was Sunday, so the vast majority of establishments were closed. Despite this we did enjoy a good walk around the shopping district near our hotel, and explored the beach side promenade which we would visit daily for drinks, slurpees, and other such items over the course of our stay.
I won't talk terribly much about my tournament experiences in either the EPT Final Main event or the SNE freeroll, as they have been documented in earlier blog posts. To sum it all up quickly, I finished 121/848, min cashing for 15,000 Euros in the Main Event. I spent the entire second day seated directly to the left of Chris Moneymaker, who is one of the most personable guys I have ever met and was delightful to play with. In the SNE freeroll I picked up $1000 worth of bounties and final tabled to receive a $530 tournament ticket.
I must mention that while just about everything (food/drink included) was very expensive as expected in Monaco, we were very fortunate to be provided a buffet breakfast every morning thanks to Pokerstars. As you might imagine, this quickly became our biggest meal of the day, and the quality of food was very high. Though the resort hotel was absolutely gorgeous, particularly the garden areas, the attitudes of some of the staff became a bit off putting. You could tell they were not used to the kind of clientele the EPT Final (or any poker event for that matter)brings, and some certainly held some resentment due to it.
On the final few days of our stay, we took a tour bus around Monaco. Being the second smallest country in the world behind the Vatican, this didn't take very long. There were however a ton of sites to see, and the vast majority of the land is aesthetically pleasing, particularly any place with a garden. We spent some time at the Oceanographic Museum, which had an extremely wide array of sea life to gawk at, along with many historical pieces from one of Monaco's princes. We witnessed the changing of the guards at the palace, and attended the EPT Season 6 Awards party, which was entertaining.
My lovely girlfriend is always in charge of the photography on our trips, and from the two weeks we spent away (including France/Britain, those TRs will come soon) we have 527 photos. I normally don't post much in the way of pictures, but since I promised the great vinivici I would, I'm going to take my favorite handful from Monaco and put them below along with a short explanation.
The view from our hotel room. My SNE status managed to get us into the baller hotel rather than the cheaper alternatives most qualifiers were put up at. Unfortunately they had a very small number of Sea View Rooms available, and I was left without one. The mountainside view was still very nice however.
Me standing with a water sphere monument in the background. This was just outside Le Sporting club where the tournament itself was played. I know this picture isn't terribly interesting, but I'm including because I spent almost every break during the tournament play staring at the sphere enjoying the light mist it provides.
The port in Monte Carlo, taken from just outside the royal palace. So many massive yachts. We thought the ones docked at the Atlantis during the PCA were nice, but Monaco put things in perspective a little.
The changing of the guard outside the palace. They were twenty minutes late from their scheduled time, though it worked out for us because we got off our bus just as the event was starting.
Paris TR and then Britain TR to follow. Stay tuned.
1 comment:
Ronfar, I've followed you for some time and tried to mimic you play to the best of my ability when on the cash tables (without much success relative to yours). I've recently started a blog and would be humbled if you would consider reading it and perhaps contributing your thoughts. Not asking for coaching, more just conversation of interest.
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