World Speed Championship
World Speed Championships in Estonia
Keith Sloan is a well respected Tournament Director from down-under
who, like all Aussies, has mastered the art of subtlety. So it was
no surprise that to launch his 'World Speed Poker Chamionship' he
promised uncomprimising paint ball sessions, and a bevvy of beautiful
models (disguised as 'clock' girls). As usual, I fell for his patter,
hook, line and sinker, and made my way over to Estonia.
The paint ball was a bluff, but the bevvy of beauties was not.
They were not the only pleasant welcome in Estonia though. The event
was held at 'The Monte Carlo' casino, which was right next door
to my Scandic Hotel. To add to this convenience, they kindly placed
a sauna behind the shower in my room. (I may have even lost weight
on the trip !) Generally though, the thing I noticed most, was the
attitude of the taxi drivers, hotel staff and bar staff. Everybody
was nice, pleasant, and always smiling. What a refreshing change
from Blighty. Even the bar staff were pleasant when I couldn't speak
the local lingo ! Errrr, just like Paris ?
Most players had got exactly the wrong impression from the title
of 'The World Speed Poker Championship'. We thought the word 'speed'
referred to the structure, and that the event may be a bit of a
'crapshoot'. This could not have been further from the truth. Each
player was only allowed 15 seconds to act. So when we had 30 minutes
for any given level, instead of getting the normal 10 to 15 hands
in the half hour, we did in fact get approximately 40 hands in half
an hour. So there was in fact more play in the tournament than usual.
(So I have no excuse for finishing a lowly 7th).
The speed of the game, combined with playing short handed, brought
an extra level of intensity to the play. There were no stoppages
in play (a second dealer would shuffle a second pack while the current
hand was in play), no concentration gaps, and the five minute toilet
breaks every hour were most welcome. The funny thing was that when
all the players got into 'the flow' of the game, most decisions
were instantanious, and unfortunately, this meant that the clock
girls were rarely used. Although the models may have got a little
bored, the Players didn't. Every player who took part in the tournament
loved it.
I should add that the winner was a very nice chap from Norway :
Henning Granstad. He played an excellent balanced aggressive game,
and was thought of as a worthy winner, by everyone I spoke to. Yes,
the best player won. How unusual ?
Hopefully in the future, normal live tournaments will find some
way of incorporating a player decision time clock. It will certainly
help the TV Producers. Not to mention the poor old viewers. Of course,
this has been standard practice, and one of the great advantages
of Internet tournaments, since there inception... Look out Carlo
and Surinder, this is the future...
Dave
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