EPT Barcelona

Like the standard has been for me lately, it has been a while between updates again.
Only this time I do think I have a somewhat valid excuse, which is having spent 2 weeks in Spain granting myself a well deserved vacation.
Should any observant reader notice that the timespan between this entry and my most recent one is more than 2 weeks, please keep it to yourself since I do not need someone to tell me how lazy I am. Which yet again is proven by how little of the entry about my vacation is somewhat interesting to add to my blog, while the largest part of the vacation was spent at the local swimming pool with a nice cold beer.

Anyways, back on topic, so somewhere during that vacation me and the buddy who went with me decided to go to Barcelona. I lost the count about how often his father must have told him to not go to the casino/be careful at the casino/don't gamble at all as if he somehow thought the two of us were some gambling degenerates who only wanted to go to Barcelona to visit the casino there.

He couldn't be more right, but we did make some pictures with my phone from other random stuff so we could show him we did not spend all of our trip to Barcelona in the casino. One picture even got me in it, and even if it's a silly picture of me sitting in front of a pretty sad looking but tasteful desert, you have to take into account that these are the kind of pictures you want to show to people who think you are a degenerate. It screams "See, I do go outside at times." while it leaves away information like that particular restaurant being only about 500 feet away from the casino.



When we entered the casino, which was very early in the evening, it was already packed. Reason for that being that the European Poker Tour was taking place there, and with the amount of players left in the tournament, the final table would probably be starting that evening. Perfect day to play some cash games vs some EPT busters.



Our plan was somewhat disturbed because one of the differences between online and live poker: waiting lists. Online, you get onto a few lists, get a coffee, and get back in time to click sit down on a few tables. Yet live, during the EPT, you have to wait 4 bloody hours before you can claim your seat.

So after finally getting my seat at an NL1k euro table, it did not take that long to bust. I found myself within the first half hour after sitting down in a situation where I held two overs + nut flush draw in a multiway pot getting about 3 to 1 pot odds, snapcalled failing to hit my outs vs two pair and some random crap hand I do not even remember, instead of dragging in a nice 2600 euro pot. That's poker, but I am quite happy that I snapcalled there instead of bothering to consider the amount of money involved.

After that I decided to watch the 'bubble' before the final table, which is quite an experience to see from the tribune compared to some online broadcast.

After the final table had started I noticed Kara Scott, the EPT hostess, from her accent on the Cardrunner's videos, when she interviewed someone in the tribune. So when I saw her in the press area and she was unoccupied, I decided to chat a bit with her.

It did look quite foolish though when she pointed out to me that as a Cardrunners member I should be recognizing the person who was sitting at the table I was standing at, who was Brian Townsend himself.

It was quite fun to run into Brian. After introducing myself to him and talking to him a bit, he seemed a genuinely spontaneous and nice guy, as you'd expect him to be from his videos/interviews etc. I did not bother him for long though, but since I was a tourist that day, I did ask for a picture for my blog. That was no problem at all, and Kara was kind enough to also join the picture. Sadly it was a bit out of focus though thanks to taking it with a cellphone.

I left the casino somewhere around 2am, even while the action on the final table was getting quite hot and only a few players were left. Me and my buddy, who is just as poker degenerate as yours truly, had the dilemma to either watch an EPT final table from the tribune, or go out to party in Barcelona throughout the rest of the night. And after going out till like 6 or 7am I can definitely vouch that the nightlife of Barcelona is quite a blast.