Tikay's Table Tales

MOSCOW TO MONTE CARLO, VIA AMSTERDAM

At $25,000 a pop, the Monte Carlo Millions (MCM) is not for you or me, but life as a poker reporter has its moments, and a few days in Monte Carlo is right up there among the best of them.



The MCM final was held in the world's plushest casino, the Casino de Monte Carlo, steeped in history and folklore, and the subject of many a story. A truly world-class field assembled – 110 of the best, including many of America's biggest names.



The winner, Phil Ivey, simply toyed with the opposition, and won, as they say in horse racing parlance, hard-held, and in a canter. It was a stupendous performance by a man who not only plays at a level above the rest of the top pros, but behaves with a dignity rarely seen these days, right up there in the Greg Raymer school of poker ambassadorship.



Heads up with the UK's surprise package, Paul "ActionJack" Jackson – playing the tournament of his life – Phil made a breathtaking play. These guys were playing for a first prize of a million bucks, remember, at this point.



Preflop, there's a raise and a call, and the flop comes J-J-7. Ivey gives Paul his trademark stare-down. Paul looks uncomfortable, like a rabbit caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. Ivey eventually says, "Raise," and now it's Paul's turn to test his opponent's mettle. There's another lengthy pause before Paul puts in the most beautifully judged reraise. Ivey's raise had been $150,000, and Paul quietly says, "With another $150,000," and in that little sentence was all manner of implied threats. He was now clearly pot-committed for all of his chips, but the small reraise screamed strength.



Now Ivey goes into the tank, big time. He stares at Paul for the best part of seven minutes. You could have heard a pin drop. Paul was being subjected to the mother and father of psychological tests by Ivey. Eventually, Ivey says, oh so quietly, "I'll set you all in." For Paul, the game was up, and he quickly passed his hand, if you could call it a hand – 6-5 offsuit. Ivey smiled as he mucked his Q-8. Now that, folks, is called poker. It was awesome stuff by a giant of the poker world.



EVEN MORE MONEY IN THE POKER POOL

An oddity about the 110-strong field was the inclusion of no fewer than 10 players from an outfit that called itself Team Bad Beat, all staked by one man; 10 players at $25,000 a go comes to, well, a whole pile of money. Owner Chris Smith looks set to turn the poker world upside down with his concept of backing a team of top players and taking a percentage of their winnings. He bankrolled almost 10 percent of the MCM field, but his judgement was sound, and he ended up with two players in the six-man final.



Rumours abound that he intends to enter no fewer than 60 players in the 2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP). I've heard a few grumbles about this, but why should anyone object? It's another $600,000 injected into the poker economy. It's new money, too, not regenerated poker money, so that's an extra $600,000 that will, as sure as God made little apples, permeate down to us eventually. Also, Mr. Smith is a nice man – very nice, if I may say so. How else can you describe a guy who invests that much money in poker? Oh, and I'm free come WSOP time, if you need me, Mr. Smith.



GO EAST, YOUNG MAN

The consensus seems to be that the next major expansion in the poker world will be in China, India, and Pakistan. However, a brief visit to Moscow recently makes me think that Russia could be the next region to make its mark on the poker map.



I visited Moscow's ultraluxurious Shangri-La Casino, and the standards of service there had to be seen to be believed: valets, dealers, customer service – everything was top-notch. In March, another Shangri-La Casino will open in St. Petersburg, and I predict that it will be a stunning success. St. Petersburg is one of the most fascinating and beautiful cities in the world, and, so far, largely unnoticed by the poker community. Only a short hop from mainland Europe, it's so much more accessible than Vegas. And whereas Vegas is full of imitation grandeur, the Russian city is the real deal. On the main drag, Nevsky Prospect, there are no fewer than 30 real palaces! Vegas has laser lights, St. Petersburg has the Northern Lights. The hotels are cheap, the accepted currency is the Euro, and the airfare is a few hundred quid. Want to see a wonder of the world? Visit St. Petersburg's Winter Palace, and prepare to be astonished. East is the new West.



THE MASTER CLASSICS OF AMSTERDAM
No festival can rival the atmosphere of the Master Classics. It's a must if you can afford it. The main event is out of my league, but I went along to report and do some TV work. Sadly, the TV gig was cancelled, as Dutch legislation forbade it. The live webcast was not much better, either, as all the reporters got removed from the arena for the last two days. It was not such a problem, though, as the one and only Rolf Slotboom was covering the event, and Rolf is, without a doubt, King of the Updaters. He's also a fine young man, handsome and charismatic, the subject of many a longing glance from beautiful women, and I like him a lot. He's also, by sheer coincidence, the new bureau chief of Card Player Europe. Good luck, Rolf!

Tony "Tikay" Kendall is the presenter of Poker 425, and a partner in blondepoker.com.