The 100th EPT Main Event deserved a memorable bubble and this tournament in Barcelona somehow managed to deliver it. It was a virtually never-ending bubble period, which even now hasn't quite finished.
Actually, Barcelona is the very best place for this type of thing, given its recent form. Take last year when a bizarre case of a missing player meant that everybody at the bubble who was within the room finished within the money. It was the happiest bubble I've ever seen.
The bubble crowds gatheringAnd so, like every bubble, today's began a few places off the money. The overall murmur across the room got just a little louder and those started to get up quite a bit. This serves as an endless source of irritation to staff, who spend all their efforts seeking to keep a handle at the reality of what is happening around them without players losing count, and with players blocking their view of the room.
But you'll be able to hardly blame a person for standing and walking around during such a longer period of hand-for-hand waiting. So that they opt for walks, that's what Viacheslav Goryachev of Russia did, forsaking his stack of 10,000, which had just had the blinds undergo them like a dose of salts.
This was taking a very very long time. But then, a glitch within the matrix. A PRIMARY all-in. Then a second. Then another, and another and another. Good grief, there is a sixth. What mess was this going to cause? How does this work? And what is going to happen to that stunning guitar? A string each?
For the chop: The bubble guitarThe effect was merry hell, a mass of individuals all standing up, and now with good reason. It gave the impression of every table had an all-in. It appeared like every player was all-in. Directly everyone checked out risk and assured a secure passage in the course of the bubble collectively: six all-ins, now to be handled one-by-one in meticulous agonising detail.
To the primary table came The Mob.
This is the bubble mob. There have been no pitch forks and burning torches, these were replaced by big sticks with microphones at the end and muscular men carrying heavy cameras, but there are still the militant demands for particular rights--the right to look what is going on. It is a crowd that organically springs from nowhere in these moments--players, spectators who've jumped the rail, even the odd member of the casino staff not wishing to overlook out. They bustle over, a cartoon cloud of dust around their feet, moving themselves into position and important satisfaction.
Daniel Studer (14th from left, white hair), one of the most first to bust at the bubbleBut the crowds were so thick that they struggled to get just about capture what was happening. The cameras barged forward, using the quiet threat of a lens to the face to clear the way in which. But not so the boom men who instead extended their rods to maximum length, their arms reaching high up over their heads, manoeuvring their charge into the proper spot.
Then came a pause before the action. The boom man, tattooed biceps bulging, mouthed something to his producer--possibly "For God's sake get a move on!"--before Toby Stone gave the order to proceed from behind a wall of individuals.
Toby Stone (23rd from left, with microphone) oversees the last all-in of the bubbleStone, whose job it's to officiate in such times, spoke into his microphone.
"There are six tables with an all-in call," he said. Then he addressed the players by their first names. It is a curious thing. There is something about this informality that seems the correct bedside manner for the bubble. This sort of players was about to have a nasty day. Be as pleasant and snug as possible, such as you would to a patient about to be operated on, knowing full well that the surgeon has good days and bad.
Three players were all in, two of whom would bust. But while their fate hung within the balance Stone and The Mob moved directly to the following. This one featured Martin Finger and Farid Chati. With everyone in position Stone announced the hand. By the way, it's worth noting at this point that Finger spent much of the 20 minute he'd spent waiting, seeking to conceal giggles.
Martin Finger, still laughing, shakes hands with Farid ChatiChati turned over his hand, a king-jack of hearts. He'd flopped the nut flush and of course got his chips in. So it was probably with delight that he watched Finger call. He can even have enjoyed the watch for the microphones and cameras to succeed in him. But then this pleasant reverie was a nightmare. Finger showed four-five. Of hearts. He'd flopped a flush as well--a straight flush.
It's customary at moments like this to neglect luck. The sport isn't considered more of a skill game than when someone makes a straight flush. Those watching gasped simultaneously, and then, began applauding and congratulating him Finger, as though he had crafted this hand out of raw granite, and together with his bare hands. To them it was a marvel of ingenuity. For his part Finger couldn't stop laughing. Chati? He was out. Well roughly.
Then more hands, the following condemning Randal Flowers into this new purgatory. Then the one double up of this little vignette. Boutros Naim, the one survivor of this extraordinary bubble that was by now both special, and somewhat weird.
Randal Flowers, in seat one, awaits his fateRichard Dubini was not so fortunate. He become the fifth and last player to leave before a large round of applause confirmed that everybody else was within the money after what felt just like the longest two-hand bubble in history.
Thankfully our photographer Neil Stoddart is phenomenally tallDubini made his excess of to what was now a huddle of tournament staff who were plotting how to get themselves, and the players, out of limbo. Let alone how you can split a seat within the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open five ways. And hell, what in regards to the guitar?
But the principles are clear. A minimum of they were after they were explained by Neil Johnson on EPT Live.
Essentially there is not any written rule as this type of mayhem only ever happens once every few years. But there are two specific rules that were conflicted.
The first states that if two players bust from the same table, then the player with the biggest stack finishes higher. If two players bust at the same hand but at different tables, they chop the prize money. But in this occasion both rules came into effect, complicated further by the added value of a Seminole seat, and the Stratocaster. So a call was made within the best interests of the tournament (over to you Twitter).
It came all the way down to this: a five-handed sit & go. The winner of which collecting the Seminole seat, the guitar and one hell of a narrative. The others, a divided share of 4 min-cashes split between five (€6,440 each).
Who is that player? We'll have full report when it's finished. Personally I'M HOPING it never finishes--a never-ending EPT100 bubble to keep in mind.
Follow the entire action from the tournament floor at the main EPT Barcelona page. There's hand-by-hand coverage within the panel on the top, including chip counts, and have pieces below. There's also EPTLive, that's streaming action from Day 3 of the principle Event.
Stephen Bartley is a staff writer for the PokerStars Blog.
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