Mike: "Y'have it?" he asks me. "Sorry John, I don't remember." I got up and walked straight to the cashier. I sat with the best in the world, Knish, and I won.
The above is a famous quote from the iconic 1998 poker movie Rounders where the main character (Mike McDermott) describes sitting with, and beating, the great Johhny Chan.
If you're looking for a real life Mike McDermott, then Vladimir Geshkenbein comes close to it.
The Russian is best known for winning EPT7 Snowfest but a couple of years before that, he recorded his first major cash by winning the KH$88,800 buy in High Roller event here at the APPT Macau. Who do you think he beat heads up to win the HK$2,067,200 first prize? You guessed it, Johnny Chan.
Rumour has it that Geshkenbein didn't play the Main Event that year and only played in the High Roller after going on a sick heater in the high roller Blackjack room. He supposedly parlayed the winnings into the tournament and created a great story by beating Chan heads up. Geshkenbein has been sat to the right of Team PokerStars Pro Bryan Huang in the Main Event today.
John Juanda won his first EPT title this year in Barcelona and has just been inducted to the Poker Hall of Fame. He is in the field today for the ACOP Main Event and got paid off after hitting a flush on the river.
The board read and John Juanda was facing a bet of 850. Juanda raised to 2,275 and his opponent called after some thinking, only to muck his hand when Juanda showed for the nut flush and the winner.
Park Yu "Sparrow" Cheung and Ka Cheong "K.C." Wong are seated next to each other opposite Team PokerStars Pro Celina Lin.
Cheung has $400,000 USD in lifetime earnings, with his biggest score coming in last year's ACOP; a first place finish in a $15,000 HKD buy in No Limit Hold-em event, for $474,700 HKD ($61,228 USD).
Wong is currently in the lead for the APOY rankings. He has $200,000 USD in lifetime earnings. He also has 17 final tables and four first-place finishes this year.
Carlos Chadha, Christoph Vogelsang and John Juanda all made Day 2 of the High Roller event but all failed to make the money, so will be looking for better luck in the Main Event today.
Chadha and Vogelsang were the last two players not to finish in the money in the High Roller so they will be especially motivated to put things right. Juanda decided to come and play the ACOP rather than go to the Poker Hall of Fame induction ceremony - where he and Jennifer Harman are due to be inducted - so we're grateful to have him here.
Team Asia PokerStars Pro Vivian Im, PokerStars Team Pro Kosei Ichinose, Team PokerStars Online Pros Isaac Haxton, and Randy Lew have joined the field in the ACOP Main Event.
Haxton leads the group in all time earnings with over $10-million in lifetime earnings. His biggest cash to date was a second place finish at the 2014 Aussie Millions. He also finished fifth in a previous event in Macau for a million-dollar score, so he is no stranger to success in Macau.
Lew has over $1-million dollars in lifetime earnings and has also found success in Macau, with a 2011 APPT Macau Main Event win.
Im, a former APPT Cebu champion, has $358,000 in lifetime earnings and two first place finishes in APPT events.
Ichinose has five fist place finishes, including a 2013 APPT Seoul Championship and an APPT Cebu High Roller win. He also has over $300,000 in lifetime earnings.
Ronaldo is obviously attracting a lot of attention by playing the ACOP Main Event today but it's something he's used to and he's full of smiles despite the amount of eyes watching him.
It's always good to get off to a good start in a poker tournament and he's managed just that, albeit with a small pot. A player in the cutoff raised and Ronaldo called from the small blind. He check-called 300 on a flop before both players checked the turn. Ronaldo then led out for 600 on the river and his opponent quickly folded. The Brazilian celebrated by running around the rood with his shirt pulled over his head. Wrong game, that never happened.
Seeing as Ronaldo's here, better make the most of it, right?
He was king enough to do the the shuffle up and deal announcement for the second day in a row. Cards are in the air for Day 1B. Only 77 players are on the clock right now but hardly anyone is in their seats right now. That number and those in their seats will quickly increase.