Ante Up For Africa

San Remo EPT came and went and now the crew are all in Monte Carlo for the big Grand Final. I arrived a couple of days ago but most of the TV crew and a lot of the journalists came straight from Italy after an Italian Championship that happened right after the EPT and so people are utterly exhausted. You can see the ‘end of season lag’ on people’s faces and I’m feeling it a bit myself as well! I’m glad I got to go home, even if it was only for a couple of nights as I never sleep as well in a hotel and the extra two nights rest is going to help A LOT this next week. 

There are some interesting faces here already signing up for the Main Event which starts today. I bumped into Andy Black and Michael Greco yesterday and some of the celebrities who flew over for Ante Up For Africa are staying on as well to play. I got to interview all the celebrities and gauge their poker knowledge. The event raised over 250000 Euros for the crisis in Darfur and it’ll be televised at some point as well. There was a lot of banter and funny chat at the tables so I’m sure it’ll be entertaining to watch As a teaser, Kirsty Gallagher was there and utterly gorgeous, smart and funny (and tiny!), Pepe Rainer charmed absolutely everyone and was refreshingly down to earth. I tripped over my words when I met the actor who played Smith Jarrett on Sex & The City and I asked the rapper Nelly if it was ‘getting hot in here’… Well, when would I get a chance like that again? And the highlight for me was meeting James Kyson Lee who plays Ando on Heroes. I’m a big fan of the show so it was great to be able to chat with him and, once again, I can confirm that he was a real lovely guy. 

I was totally prepared to have to deal with showbizzy type celebs but in truth, everyone was pretty damned nice and there weren’t the big egos that I expected. Nelly did have an ENORMOUS body guard though and that made me giggle. 

So now it’s the Main Event for Monte Carlo and the grand final for season 5. It’s been a busy year and it’s so strange that it’s coming to an end now. I’m going to miss everyone but catching up with my friends at home is top of my list of things to do when I get back, and I really can’t wait. 

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