As the fictional gambler Sky Masterson relates the advice his daddy once gave him in Guys and Dolls, “One of these days in your travels, a guy is going to show you a brand-new deck of cards on which the seal is not yet broken. Usually, they are a bit more of a sure thing than Dan Colman’s stand against Kevin Hart. This may be the first prop bet I’ve seen, but the bets themselves are ubiquitous in the poker world-and far older than Hold’em itself.

“Motherfucker,” offers Kevin Hart with a handshake.Īh, the decorum of the super high rollers. I want to take my time, get a feel for the place, get acclimated and centered, in the moment for when the big moment arrives. This is a different playing field in every sense, and I’ll be damned if I’m even a second late. This is doubly true when the tournament in question is more expensive by a factor of five than any I’ve ever played before and the caliber of player will likely be vastly superior to anything I’ve ever encountered. It throws me off and starts me off on the completely wrong foot, whatever I happen to be doing. ( Erik Seidel is one of the world’s top players and the person I have carefully selected to coach me to poker proficiency.) There’s nothing I hate more than feeling rushed. I want to see how Erik is doing-he arrived a few days ago, to play the high rollers-and get my bearings. I arrive a bit early for my first event, the €1,100 National Championship. If only every poker game could be played under the stars.

The walls of the room are glass, opening on a sea vista wherever you look. The roof of that circle retracts, revealing the sky and letting players, for a brief moment, feel a bit less disconnected from the rest of the world. I’ve certainly never seen its equal, before or since.

It’s considered one of the most beautiful poker rooms in the world, and I can understand why. It’s with grand aspirations that I make my way to the Salle des Étoiles, the Room of Stars, where the European Poker Tour is being held.

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