Continued from Part Three...

The Next Best Thing

In today’s climate, 7pm feels like a late start, but weather conditions are slightly different at Les Ambassadeurs. This is a venue that caters for a distinct clientele: bankers, lawyers, entrepreneurs, London’s high rollers who have money to burn and a passion for poker as equally prevalent. The London Open is therefore as much about creating a pathway for that elite customer base as it is in promoting tournament sponsors Mansion. It’s one thing having private cash games in which some of the country’s biggest pots are played out, but if the target audience isn’t aware of its existence, then what’s the point? The Mansion London Open Poker Tournament fills that gap and acts as a giant advert for Les A, serving as a useful tool in garnering them the attention they’re looking for.

At £2,000, Les A have an entry fee that is large enough to capture the interest of the high rollers, yet small enough for the less affluent players to either qualify online or buy in directly. Attracting both types of player is essential, as a tournament catering for a small group of people achieves little in the way of publicity and only serves to maintain Les A as a venue foreign to even the keenest of poker enthusiasts. He might not return to play the private cash game, but if that minor league player goes home with a smile on his face and only good things to say about Les A, the general vibe running through the poker community will be a positive one, and one that can only reflect favourably on a venue looking to widen its reputation.

As expected, the 7pm start time, matched with the deep structure, meant that 39 players would be retuning for Day Two, making that final table seem like a country mile away. But despite predictions of a late finish, some will have been licking their lips, knowing that with the one hour clock intact they were facing a poker marathon and more bang for their buck than in other tournaments.

It was perhaps this scenario that enabled me to finally pull Poker Manager Craig Stevens aside for a quick interview, a man who had been running around like a headless chicken for the duration of the tournament in order to ensure a smooth operation. With the field dissected in half, he was now available for a chat and, although understandably aloof/protective about the ‘big game’ and the ‘names’ who appear in them, was happy to answer any questions I threw his way regarding his intentions for the tournament, his love of Les A, and his efforts to keep the sharks from the door.

One of the key points that Craig brought up is that the wealthy, but casual poker amateurs want to play with “their own kind” rather than the pros, but if a pro is able to entertain and make the experience more fun than it was before, then they might accept them into the game. This therefore emphasises the importance to professional players in being an amicable figure, someone who likes to play for the sake of playing rather than profit alone, and that are willing to have a gamble now and then in order to liven the game up and create action. Your stoic grinder is thus going to find it extremely difficult to find a route into these games, whilst others, who have perhaps marketed themselves as a ‘face’ or someone who is fun to play with, will have a much better chance of being embraced by the group. As Nick the Greek once said, “The next best thing to playing and winning is playing and losing," and this certainly rings true for those playing poker for fun rather than money.

One player who, if he did boast the appropriate bankroll, could fit perfectly into that role is Black Belt Poker’s Nik Persaud. “Take a look around, it’s great in here,” confessed Nik. “Friendly staff, nice warm atmosphere, and a big TV screen in the corner. I’d love to just sit over there on the far table, perched in seat nine with a newspaper in my hand and make my living playing the $5/10 game.”

But today, dominating the ring-games was the least of his concerns, as Nik was one of the 39 to have returned for Day Two, and a member of the even smaller bracket of ‘short-stacked and desperate’. But despite his lack of chips, the Poker Gods, initially, at least, were on his side, and with 10 big blinds Nik made an automatic shove with A-5 in the cut-off. He may have run into sevens, but a bullet on the board gave him the double through he required and rejuvenated his hopes of making a mark on the tournament.

“After that, I nicked my way up to 35,000,” he regaled, “ but the blinds weren’t getting any smaller and I still needed to keep my eye out for any opportunity that arose. With the blinds at 1,000/2,000, a player who’d been opening a lot of pots raised it up with what he later told me was K-9. I came over the top, but Abishek Khaitan (pictured below) woke up with aces in the big blind. I didn’t hit my miracle and that was that."

“Still,” he continued. “I enjoyed the tournament and would play here again. It’s a great comp with a buy-in that attracts different sets of players. If you think, this kid who lives in Paris has qualified in an online freeroll has got to play in a place as impressive as this, for a chance of winning 70k, and also had his photo taken with Roland. It’s nice.”

Whilst Nik’s stack had sunk beyond the felt, Ross Boatman’s seemed to be on a neverending journey north, and with brother Barny an earlier casualty and watching from the rail (or, perhaps more accurately, the bar - just kidding, Barny), Ross became the sole flier of the Hendon Mob flag. This burden, however, didn’t hold him back, as he continued to rampage his way through the tournament like a rhinoceros on speed, boasting at one point 300,000 with 19 players left and the average stack at 87,000. Catching him was beginning to seem more and more unlikely and organisers were sharpening their knives and getting braced to inscribe his name onto the trophy.

Read Part Five...

Return To Les A - Part One: Do Not Pass Go
Return to Les A - Part Two: Same Game, Different Location
Return to Les A - Part Three: Rich in History

Also see our daily reports from the Full Tilt Million Dollar Challenge:

Les Ambassadurrrrs – Day One
Les Ambassadurrrrs – Day Two
Les Ambassadurrrrs – Day Three