Break times are excellent times to chat with players to get some interesting hands and chip counts. Usually you can smoke anywhere in Europe, but not in the tournament area at the Monte Carlo Bay Casino. Players have to go outside to the veranda. That's the best place to talk to players and I usually camp out there a few minutes before break time. Chris Moneymaker walked by me and shook his head as he lit up a Marlboro Light. He didn't have to say anything. I knew what he was thinking by his body language.
The hallways of casinos during breaks at poker tournaments are filled with chatter from players talking to other players or friends and family members. Some are updating their progress while others are complaining about bad beats they took in the previous round. At the EPT, there are conversations going on in twenty different languages. You can actually hear bad beats in Swedish, Danish, Spanish, French, German, English, Japanese, and Italian.
Doesn't matter what language you speak, a bad beat still stings whether you're from Copenhagen, Tokyo, Las Vegas, Paris, or Milan.
