A coffee, a few yawns… and the end of the Kabrhel show
A coffee, a Martin, and the day can begin
I won’t surprise anyone by saying that some wake-ups are harder than others. By Day 6 of covering these WSOP-E, the body starts to feel it. The days are long, well over ten hours of work to bring you inside the festival. So when the alarm rang at 10 a.m. this morning, I’ll admit I hit snooze more than once. Forget the breakfast, tempting as it may be, today I chose sleep over everything, trying to stretch out a night that wasn’t particularly restful. Maybe the few beers around 2 a.m. had something to do with that heavy feeling when the alarm went off. Let’s call it a mix of both.
So no breakfast, a wake-up around 11:30, a quick shower, just to avoid offending anyone in the press room, and it’s already time to jump in the elevator and head down the four floors separating me from the main tournament area. In the lift, I run into João Vieira, wearing a Manchester United jersey with Bruno Fernandes on the back, heading to the hotel gym. Discipline at its finest. The complete opposite of yours truly, who hasn’t set foot in that part of the Hilton yet.
A quick stop in the press room, where journalists from all over the world are gathered, just to drop my things, and I’m off again, one floor down, ready to take the pulse of Day 3 of the Main Event, kicking off at noon. But first, a mandatory stop at the bar: I need coffee.
Apparently, I’m not the only one struggling to wake up. The first thing that strikes me as I enter the room, people are yawning everywhere. Dealers, staff, players… everyone is starting to feel the grind. So it’s no surprise that when Pierre Calamusa spots me with a coffee, he asks if I can grab him one too. Of course, Pierre, ask and you shall receive. Don’t judge me, I have to maintain good relationships with the people I’ll be seeing all year long.
There is, however, one man who is fully awake: Martin Kabrhel. If a poker room is usually filled with the sound of chips clinking, the Czech makes it his mission to drown it out with his voice. But the “Kabrhel show” might be short-lived today.
Starting the day with around 15 big blinds, he hasn’t won a single pot, eventually dropping to just two. And, as always, he’s at the center of attention. UTG and effectively all-in the next hand, he decides to use nearly all of his time banks—placing them one by one in front of the dealer, much to the frustration of his tablemates. He’s within his rights, of course… but there’s also an unspoken code at the table.
So when he doubles up first with Q♣ 8♠ against 4♦ 4♣, it doesn’t exactly delight the rest of the table. At least now he’s out of time banks and must act within the standard 30 seconds. One hand later, he finds A♠ A♣ in the big blind and doubles again. The start of a crazy comeback ?
Not quite.
The very next hand will be his last. Holding 8♥ 8♦, he loses a flip as an Ace hits the flop. No help on the turn or river, and it’s time for him to head to the payout desk. Good news for some—less so for those who enjoy the show.
And that’s how the first 90 minutes of the day unfold.
As for me, it’s definitely time to grab some food. After all, I skipped breakfast, I’ve earned it, right ?
Paul Koessler