Laura Cornelius
Life on the Road
EPT Campione Travel Diary
I had been to Lake Como once a few years back and was absolutely mesmerized by it, so to find out Campione was close by and a similar setting to Como (perched on the shore of Lake Lugano) excited me very much. It really did not disappoint either. I met Mantyvdas, my Lithuanian cameraman at the airport in Milan and from there we took an hour cab to Campione, through winding roads and picturesque scenery. One moment we were in Italy and then the next, we found ourselves in Switzerland. I was confused at first with what country we were actually in and what language we should speak, but after a little investigation work, it became clear Campione, although in Switzerland was an Italian territory and was definitely much more Italian than Swiss. Thank god, I thought as my preference for Italian food was way higher than Swiss. Yep, I’m always thinking about food. A view of the lake:
I woke early the next morning as the sun streamed through the curtains. As I pulled them back I stood in awe of the beautiful view of Lake Lugano from my window. It was absolutely breathtaking and I couldn’t wait to get out and explore. A little more investigation work down the line and I discovered that actually 68% of the lake was in Switzerland, while the remainder in Italy. That could only express the immensity of this stretch of water. Little sailing boats glided peacefully along and a few older people were spotted out walking their canine pooches, though it was surprisingly quiet out and about. It was such a tranquil setting though, quiet and peaceful was just as it should have been. Luckily we took our video camera:
It was decided that EPT Campione would have 2pm starts, instead of our usual 12pm, which suited me down to the ground (and more than likely the players as they are never of the variety to rise early!) I had brought my tennis racket with me as I had just started to pick up the hobby from years back, so one morning it was great to get out and play before the tournament started and the clay courts were literally right next to the lake. I had never played with such beautiful scenery next to me. Needless to say I didn’t win, but I picked up some great tan! The weather was sublime every day and I do bring a little golden glimmer back to London town. One tip I must offer though, if you are thinking of making it out to Campione in the future, try not to ever get a taxi, they are the most expensive taxis probably in the world! There is a little bus that goes back and forth from Capione to Lake Lugano which costs a few euros and it is much more economical!
As always many Team PokerStars Pros joined us for this Italian leg of the tour, the majority taking part of Day 1b. As we were approaching the end of Season 8 too the race for points for EPT Player of the Year was also hotting up, with just a few hundred points separating Czech player Ondrej Vinklarek and the notorious welshman Roberto Romanello. I took to the tournament floor to find out who our pros thought should be EPT Player of the Year and the majority said Steve O'Dwyer who is currently in 3rd place, but we'll have to wait until the end of Season 8 to find out who wins.
By Day 4, no Team PokerStars Pros remained, Liv Boeree having made it the furthest with a 51st place finish and cash for €9,000. Yet still we had an interesting field of players with a lot of playing experience including the likes of Fabrice Soulier, Per Linde and David Vamplew. We had all just escaped our hangovers by this time too as the EPT Players party was on the evening of Day 2 and on a boat. Yes! A boat! This is the view of the casino once the boat set sail (or turned the engine on).
As the final table emerged it became clear we had a great line up with a lot of experience and all players from different countries, which was interesting really seeing as 42% of the field were Italian. The final table was no breeze and 4 handed play seemed to last a lifetime as the big stack went to the short stack and then kept doubling up. It was not until 4am that the end was nigh and Jannick Wrang became the third consecutive Dane to win an EPT. Mickey Petersen took down EPT Copenhagen; Frederik Jensen had Madrid under his belt and now Wrang had Campione in the bag. He was extremely happy to have beaten American pro Olivier Busquet heads-up, for Busquet had the reputation as one of the best heads-up players in the world. Wrang had also qualified online on pokerstars.com in a €109 rebuy satellite, claiming his €640,000 first place win had initially only cost him €309. Not a bad profit! Here is Jannick Wrang shortly after winning:
Just around 2 weeks back at home in London, time to un-pack the bags, put the washing on, catch up with some car-crash telly, see my friends and then its back on the road to Berlin for a 3 week trip covering back to back EPTs for the end of the season. Bring. It. On.
Pizza, Pasta, Poker, SHOES...
So, we touched down for the EPT in San Remo just 4 days ago and to be fair, I've probably only put on about 8kg so far. Yep, the food is simply amazing here. Unfortunatley I had some pretty bad luck the day before I left London, with my flat getting broken into and my laptop and some of my valuables stolen. Highly annoying and costly but luckily I don't dwell on these misdemeanors too much and just get on with it all. Some of my friends say its my own fault living in a part of London (Brixton) that is not well-known for its safer streets, but I love the vibe there. So with no laptop and no credit or debit cards I found myself having to borrow a fair wad of cash from friends to keep me going straight through the 3 weeks I would be away (from San Remo the PokerNews crew heads straight on to Madrid for Grand Final) I'm only 4 days in and my careful spending has bought me a new laptop, 2 pairs of shoes and a dress. Whoops. Its fair to say I'm not even that much of a shopper, but the shops here in Italy are simply to die for. I have to think of different ways to walk back to the hotel from Il Casino di San Remo just so I don't buy any more shoes!
San Remo truly is a beautiful and quaint city, with cobbled streets, authentic, amazing restaurants and scenery to die for. Some of the camera crew and I took a trek up to the top of the city to check out the views; it nearly killed me walking up all the steps with mopeds whizzing past every few moments, but was definitely worth it!
Its the first time I've been to San Remo for an EPT, but I was actually here about 6 years ago, so it brought back some really fond memories. I've spent a lot of my life travelling, either for work or aimlessly searching for excitement in the form of new cities to explore and people to make friends with. It was a theatre tour for kids I was performing in back in 2006 when I first explored San Remo and took hold of its splendour. Never did I know 6 years later I would be back here again! Sad to say, but when I saw the McDonalds in Piazza Colombo, I got a bit too excited 'Oh this is the McDonalds where Nicola and I would sneak out from rehearsals and get our tea!' Got to stick to my tea-drinking roots huh!?
The week so far has been full of fun, food and drink. Obviously whenever we visit a country, we want to experience the culture as fully as possible, so that's why Gloria Balding and I went out to 'research' the best Italian liquors here in San Remo. Not quite sure how its possible for me to pull so many facial expressions within 7 minutes, but hey, taste some grappa, then you'll know!
Today has also been a big day in the media room, well for the handful of Brits here, as it Royal Wedding Day. Being British myself, I of course felt the need to make a video about the wedding and various poker players opinions to it. Its unanimous, they really don't care! To be honest, I wasn't all that bothered about it, until I got here this morning and we started playing the live stream on the computer. Mad Harper had a Union Jack hat and flag draped round her and the pride rubbed off on me as before we both knew it we were sat there watching Kate walk the aisle with her father, both of us with tears in our eyes!! Dear oh dear, I hear you cry, well don't worry, we are over it now and in full swing with Day 2 at EPT San Remo. Carter Philips has just taken over the chiplead with 360,000 chips (for those that needed a poker hit quick after all that Royal Wedding chat). However, for those with just a teensy piece of sentimentality in their bones, here's the royal wedding video!
A few more days here in San Remo to see our brand new EPT Winner crowned and then its straight off to Madrid. I've never been to Madrid before, but I love tapas almost as much as pizza, so it can't be all bad. Here's hoping I get thrown in front of a bull with a red cloth at some point in the middle of the Grand Final too!
