COOLEST POKER PLAYER EVER? The title for coolest poker player ever would have to go to 2002 World Series of Poker Champ Robert Varkonyi. In the second insane Extreme Poker Event, Robert managed to defeat previous Extreme Poker Champ Juha Helppi of Finland in considerable style. Juha had previously triumphed at the first major poker game which was staged many metres down on the ocean floor off the Caribbean island of St. Kitts and automatically won the right to choose the venue for the second Extreme Event. Naturally Juha chose “home turf” which resulted in a poker table being duly assembled on Finland’s notorious ice shelf at Kemi. In late March 2006 prevailing temperatures at the ice shelf as the ten players took their places varied between -15c to -20c with a -10F wind-chill.
DEAD PAN EXPRESSION Holding the cards in thermal gloves was achieved with great skill and the ice masks prevented any obvious “tells” being given away with the added benefit of stopping eyeballs from freezing solid in their sockets. If and when this does happen it is one of the most difficult expressions from which to suss a “tell” and kind of irrelevant as the player concerned would of course be dead.
EXTREME RULES Some interesting rules were in play from the outset. For example: If you bust out in the first thirty minutes of play you were allowed to buy back in by giving up your duck-down jacket and stripping to a T-shirt. After ninety minutes WSOP Champ Robert Varkonyi produced a stunning final hand. Robert had started off with 10-9 off-suit against Extreme Champ Juha’s King-nine clubs. The flop came down seven spades-three clubs and ten hearts. Juha went all-in with his flush draw. Robert called with his top pair. The turn produced a seven and the river rewarded Rob with a Full House via a late ten! Everyone else had of course by then been frozen out. Extreme poker is not for everyone (in fact almost NO-ONE at all) but it’s certainly to be admired for its uniqueness and the finale did produce a great hand.
EXTREME PECKHAM POKER If the sponsors at Extreme are looking for a REAL challenge I’d like to suggest erecting a card table outside any pub in Peckham around midnight on a Saturday. In “Peckham Poker” a Club is something you use to create “limpers” and “aggression” usually starts with small arms fire in conservative games and escalates to semi-automatic in No Limit Texas Hold’up, as they call it south London. Just a thought.
