Monte Carlo Mayhem - Part I
Where in the World?: Monte Carlo, Monaco
The initial journey took the Card Player reporting team from Vegas to JFK, and across the Atlantic into Nice, France. A quick bus ride up the Mediterranean coast took us to the Fairmont Hotel, right in the middle of Monte Carlo. The second smallest country in the world is home to high-stakes gambling, high-class living, luxurious multi-million dollar yachts and high-speed sports cars, in one of the most beautiful locations on the planet. Here is Part I from Monaco - in a dozen anecdotes or less…
Right up Front - Some French Disclaimers
Hilarious Currency Exchange Moment: Adam Levy and Alex Kamberis walked up to the currency exchange booth at JFK right as I finished cashing out $199 U.S. dollars for a whooping €105. Levy pulled out $4 grand in cash and placed it on the counter, which caused the eyes of the girl behind the counter to get big for a second. She excused herself for a moment and called her manager to authorize that large of an exchange. While she was on the phone, Kamberis started to unload $25 grand from his travel bag. The girl got off the phone, looked at the counter, her eyes got even larger than before, and she excused herself once again to call her manager. To make a long story short, Levy was able to exchange his cash to euros, while Kamberis almost missed the flight in a failed attempt to exchange his large roll.
If you ever venture to France, do yourself a favor and learn the phrase "Parlez-vous anglais?" Translation: "Do you speak English?" Over half the people in France speak English - especially in the service industry - and all you have to do is utter those magic words to unlock the language barrier. Otherwise, good luck with communication via facial expressions and hand gestures.
Poker publications are much more prominent in Europe. Almost every newstand had half a dozen poker magazines. And, they were up front and center on the newstand, not buried in the bottom right corner like they often are in America.
The culture in France is very laid back; business hours are set more by the personal schedule of their owners than by what makes rational sense in most cases. This also applies to the speed of restaurant service. The dinner breaks at the EPT Grand Final were one hour long, and in most cases our American haste clashed with our French waiters. And remember, never, ever, order duck foie gras when you have less than an hour to eat.
Hilarious Language Barrier Moment: Our quest to eat dinner in one hour did not succeed one night, and our table required to-go boxes to make it back to the tournament in time. I asked the waiter for a to-go box, and he promptly nodded his head and then headed back to the kitchen. He returned five minutes later and proudly plopped down a bottle of Tabasco sauce???? Our table shared a laugh as I tried to explain that I had meant "To-go-bag" and not "Ta-bas-co." "Doggie Bag" eventually got the trick done.
Monaco has to be the cleanest country in the world. The sidewalks are as spotless as Main Street in Disneyland, and minus the city-wide set up taking place for the Monte Carlo Grand Prix, nothing looked out of place. So…imagine how unhappy the police car my cab was stuck behind at 3 a.m. one night must have been when it happened across a tourist who was using the sidewalk as his personal urinal. That must have been an interesting combination, hopefully the drunken tourist remembered lesson #1 - Parlez-vous anglais?
Ain't No Party like a PokerStars Party
Every stop on the European Poker Tour is kicked off with an open bar welcome party, and ended with an open bar wrap party. This is a
huge perk in Monte Carlo, where a beer will run you €8, and a drink at some of the local clubs will run you €20. Those of us new to the EPT soon discovered that every night was party night in Europe - no matter how late the tournament ran - the bar was packed until the wee hours of the morning.
The EPT welcome party featured a crazy performance that can best be described as a circus act crossed with a bowling team at a rave party. That description doesn't quite capture the strangeness of the performance, so here are some pictures.
Max Pescatori was boasting like a proud papa about the success of the EPT San Remo event that sold out. The EPT has wanted Italy to be a part of the tour since the beginning, and no one is happier that this is now a reality than Pescatori. My colleagues who worked the event confirmed that it was a media madhouse at the tournament, especially when the Italian media went nuts over Dario Minieri making the final table.
The final stop of the night was the Grand Casino, and Hotel Paris in the main town square - although after discovering that the minimum bet was €50 on the black jack tables, and even the entry fee cost €10 at the Casino, while entrees were running for €130 a plate at Louis XV - monetary forces brought the evening to a close.
Up Next: Monte Carlo Mayhem - Part II
Please email any and all comments, questions, or views you have concerning this blog to ryan.lucchesi@cardplayer.com.
