Master Classics of Poker report
Day 1: The Cards are in the Air
November 3, 2001: Freeroll tournament
While the annual Dutch Master Classics of Poker 2001 started today (Sunday), there was a big Freeroll Tournament for all tournament players on Saturday. That is: for everyone who pre-registered for at least three tournaments during the week. Because of the 10th Anniversary of the Master Classics, the house decided to reward its customers by giving them a free chance to participate in the big $2000 (5000 guilder) Lido tournament. The structure of the freeroll was akin to a supersatellite, as play would continue until there were only ten players left. 145 players participated, knowing 135 of them would end up with nothing. Still, a $20,000 promotion is not to be sniffed at, and the generosity of the house was highly appreciated by the players.
Every year, a lot of the best European and also some of the top American players show up for the Master Classics; in fact, for most professionals Amsterdam is the number one tournament in their schedule. Famous players like John Bonetti, Mike Sexton, Phil Hellmuth and T. J. Cloutier have come over in the past and a large contingent of Americans is also expected this year, despite the current situation in the U.S. and the advice given to refrain from flying. The tournament has become bigger every year since its start ten years ago and prize money in 2001 is expected to top all previous records. I will make a daily report on the events this week for Mark, Tina and all you visitors of this great site. I would like to thank Holland Casino management for giving me all the facilities I need to get the daily report to you as good and fast as possible. The photos are courtesy of Gérard Ausems, the official photographer of the event.
While I hadn’t planned on playing any tournaments this year –a) because they give me headache and b) because I think my edge in tournaments is not as big as in cash games; maybe there is some correlation between the two-, because of the freeroll promotion I decided to give it a try and play the three smallest tournaments. Despite this, I will still try to give you guys detailed reports of every final table this week that I’m not involved in (and knowing my tournament abilities, I will thus be able to write detailed reports on every event). Saturday, I was fortunate enough to be one of the final ten players, one of the lucky few to receive the entry in the big one (expected prize pool $400,000). While I wasn’t too pleased with my overall play during the different stages of the tournament, I was never in much danger either; in fact, I didn’t have to go all-in even once during the entire tournament. After six grueling hours of play, and a lot of tense moments when there were still two tables and only twelve players left because all-in players miraculously escaped at least fifteen times in a row (“all-in stays in”), the eleventh players was finally eliminated.
Final results- The ten Freeroll winners:
1. Michel Claeys, Belgium
2. Jaap Bosschieter, Netherlands
3. Jac Arama, England
4. Pascalle Perrault, France
5. Malcolm Harwood, England
6. Rolf Slotboom, The Netherlands
7. Henny Thehu, The Netherlands
8. Rene Jansen, The Netherlands
9. Rudi Schmidt, Germany
10. Martin Blum, Germany
On Sunday, the $180 limit hold’em event will take place, the actual start of the tournament week. I’ll keep you all posted. Take care, and good luck,
Rolf “Ace” Slotboom.
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