WSOP Europe / Dave Allan / 20 September 2009 / Leave a comment

Pink Hummers, parties and a bit of poker! Simon Zammit's back with more tales from working behind the scenes of the WSOP Europe.

A Greek dude with his twenty-something year old daughter, who was actually very good looking, stopped and literally threw the girl at us. He said "Please, I want an English grandson!"

Days 4 & 5

I somehow got up at 08:00 and started up the laptop, one last big push on emails before the start of the WSOPE. My colleague back in Malta did an amazing job and we pretty much finished most of the work in two hours. As soon as that was over, I had a quick shower and ran to the Empire to meet Richard, my fearless leader!

I was first told to help out with media accreditation so I basically had to chase photographers and journalists and make sure they had permission (and a badge) to be there. Thankfully, all of them seemed to be nice people and I had absolutely no problems at all. At exactly noon, Jack, tournament announcer for the WSOPE, started introducing the 18 players that were to fight for $1,000,000 during the course of the day.

I had the opportunity to meet representatives of UK, Canada, Ireland and France before the game and wished them all the best. Unfortunately, our Russian player got help up in his country due to delays in Visa issue, so he was not with us at the time. To be honest, I would probably sue the government for possibly screwing me out of a possible million, but that's just me I guess!

After the players had been introduced and drawn their seats, the magic words were said and play started - that was it - the WSOPE had just begun! I stuck around watching for a bit but had to return to the media room as I had a few more emails and interview requests to sort out. Annette had unfortunately been knocked out of the EPO and was on her way back to London, which meant people wanted to speak with her..

Anyways, between handling media, learning how to upload pictures to the wsope.betfair website and occasionally following the Free Million Dollar Game, it was soon 17:00 and I went back to the hotel room to chill out and prepare for the WSOPE launch party. Just a bit after 19:00, I was back at the Casino, in a suit and ready for action! First thing was to collect a "pretty" pink bracelet which indicated to security "I can eat, drink and go where I want so don't bug me" - lol

Soon after that, guests started to arrive and I also got to meet colleagues that I hadn't seen for a year, as well as familiar ones like Paul who had obviously been in Vegas with me! Betfair Poker online qualifiers I knew also turned up to the party which was an added bonus. At 20:30 I then went back to the hotel to pick up Annette and we also met up with John and his friends. It amazes me that people that work in a casino do not recognise big names in Poker and had both present their ID before being allowed in. I remember last year we had a huge picture of Annette at the entrance and security still wanted ID and she said "Dude, my picture is right behind you" J Hilarious and his face went from pale white to red - haha

I then equipped our Pros with pink bracelets and we all started to mingle with the guests and having a few beers. Annette then told me to follow her into the private poker room where Mike Matusow, Phil Hellmuth and another guy were playing Chinese poker for about $1,000/ $2,000 (wow) Annette kindly introduced me and she even played a few hands herself, with someone else's money of course! After about half an hour, Annette, Mike and I headed into the party and I met with Richard to see how everything was going - which great.

Around 22:00, we finally got a winner and the Greek player won the FMDG! To be honest, he could have shown a bit more excitement after becoming a millionaire but I guess shock had taken over. I asked Annette to get in there for a few pictures with the player and as usual, she was more than happy to oblige. The room was getting crowded and after saying goodbye to John, who was unfortunately not feeling well, Annette and I exited the casino and went for a quiet coffee to chill.

I have to say it was really nice having a proper conversation with the "almost 21-year old" wonderkid and also had a few laughs, which was great. Half an hour later we both met Per, Annette's other manager from Poker Icons and we headed back into the casino. I bumped into Chris Ferguson and invited him over to the party but surprise, surprise (and to my horror) I spot him trying to get in and security don't let him in! OMFG what a tilty moment!!! Richard and I then go back to Chris and give him a nice pink bracelet and he was kind enough to make an appearance at the party as well.

It was soon past 01:00 and I left the party and got back into my room, but not before stopping at Burger King and getting some food.. After filling my very empty stomach, I then had a nice little phone call from "the special lady" back in Malta and fell asleep moments later!

Annette's Birthday

Today was a very special day - Friday 18th September was the start of the first official bracelet Event as well as Annette's 21st birthday; meaning she can now start her invasion of America and conquer a new continent! Of course, this would mean a very hectic day for me and all my colleagues so I got up to a bright and early start answering emails at 08:30.

As soon as that was done, a quick shower was in order and I was back at the Empire around 11:00 so help Richard out with all the media accreditation as well as uploading pictures and videos on the wsope.betfair website. Also had the opportunity to look around and watch some of the famous names play a bit of poker. Before you know it, 15:00 was showing on the clock and Richard treated me to a nice Italian lunch down at Leicester Square, which was good!

Back at the Casino an hour later, a French TV crew from Maiden Poker showed up as they will be following Richard for a few days for a sort of "behind the scenes" documentary about the WSOPE. After Richard gave them a guided tour, I then went back to the hotel room to catch up with family and "the lady" before getting ready for Annette's birthday surprise.

I picked up Annette around 18:00 in front of the Radisson and after catching up for a few minutes, we then left (in the company of David, a colleague of mine) towards the front of the Empire to meet her guests. Of course, the media was ever present and a host of journalists and a radio show host bombarded her with questions and best wishes.

At around 18:30, we then headed up to Icon Bar and surprised her with a birthday cake and small, quick party to get the atmosphere going. Unfortunately, media also followed which meant Annette couldn't even enjoy a bit of her own cake. Being the professional she is, Annette just answered all the questions put forward to her.

Fifteen minutes later, Annette, Richard, David, myself and some of her guests headed towards the exit and the expression on her face when she saw that the transport we organised was worth a million pounds - a stretch pink Hummer! People walking all stopped, stared and smiled whilst taking photos with the Hummer as well as Annette and after a 5 minute photo shoot, we all hopped inside, popped open the champagne bottles and headed towards our first destination.

The ride to the London Eye was very loud, with everyone still not over the fact we were travelling in a giant Barbie car and it was impressive that we managed to finish two bottles of bubbly in the space on fifteen minutes! John and Sorel were waiting for us at the Eye and whilst the rest of the party stopped to have a chat, Richard and I got the tickets for our private pod, sorted out permissions for the film crew to also join us and we all hopped into the pod.

I had ordered canapés and 5 bottles of champagne as well as two rotations on the Eye and the experience was amazing. I tried to get on the Eye last year but a million people decided to do the same thing so I gave up and went to the pub. The view was amazing and we booked the perfect time to see the sun set over London and everybody was having a good time.

After an hour of chatting, eating and drinking we all got out of the pod and headed back into the Hummer for some more fun. I had instructed the driver to just take us round London for an hour so we all could chill out and talk. Halfway through the ride, some of us needed to wee so the Hummer stopped and we all got off, champagne glasses in hand of course.

Then, the funniest thing happened. A Greek dude with his twenty-something year old daughter, who was actually very good looking, stopped and literally threw the girl at us. He said "Please, I want an English grandson!" He then continued to push her into the limousine, grab Sorel and also put him in, close the door and say "have fun".

Of course Sorel is not one to refuse such an invite and we could not stop laughing whilst passers by once again took pictures. I wish I had a sticker that said "If the Hummer is rocking, don't come a-knocking" J When Annette arrived, she could not believe the story so obviously opened the door and went in to find Sorel and the girl having a chat (which in all honesty, was a bit disappointing). After getting her Facebook (lol) the girl and her dad left whilst we all got in and continued with the festivities.

Just before 22:00, we arrived at The Ivy and quickly made it into the Private Room which I had booked (aha, aha). As we all settled in our seats, the host welcomed us with even more champagne and by this time, it was starting to get me a bit tipsy. After about half an hour, the starters came out - the best ever Prawn Cocktails and a whole lot of them as well! I was almost full with just one serving but John decided two would be better whilst Sorel actually opted for three..

After the first course, the wine now started flowing and the second round of food, a very good portion of beef, quickly arrived. Annette had opted to get "Bang Bang Chicken" instead, whatever that is, and we all really enjoyed the food. Stephan, my boss, and his wife then surprised us all with a visit and couldn't resist the temptation of such good food.

Desert was just as amazing and to top it off, the host then brought each of us a box of chocolate truffles to take home with us (although some could not wait that long to eat them). After settling the bill (thank you Betfair Company Visa) we then made our way to Leicester Square and the three Pros decided to call it a night since they were playing Day 1B of Event 1 the next day.

After saying our goodbyes, Annette's guests and I headed into the Empire and sat down at the Icon for a quiet drink and a cigarette on the terrace. My stomach was grumbling as it was over the limit in food capacity so I decided to wash it all down with a pint, which worked wonders! The group was all having fun and a look at the watch gave me a bit of a scare as it was now 02:30 and I had to get up very early the next day.

I said goodbye to the gang, ran to the hotel, spoke on the phone for a couple of minutes to "the sheriff" (hehe - sorry Dawn) and fell asleep! Till the next episode, this is me signing off so thanks for reading!

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