ANZPT Queenstown: It's not time travel, it's Day 1B

Last night as I was wandering the streets of Queenstown, I passed a small drinking establishment called Tardis Bar and, being a huge fan of Doctor Who, had to enter.  The place was no bigger than about six or seven police boxes and largely devoid of clientele.  I wondered what the place would look like -- and how the staff would handle it -- if more than twenty people entered the bar at the same time.

I got my answer fifteen minutes later when a pub crawl of roughly forty people showed up, downed a shot of Jagermeister proferred at the door, and jammed themselves into the bar. Then, ever so slowly, one by one they began to filter out of the bar on their own.

You see where I'm going with this, I'm sure.

Today is Day 1B of the 2010 ANZPT Queenstown Main Event.  There will be relative calm in the tournament room in the late morning, with just a few staff present attending to various tasks.  Then the doors of the casino will open at 12 noon, and a flash mob of 40-50 poker players will fill up the tournament room and begin to play poker. One by one they'll drop away until about 25-30 are left at the end of the night.

A few known quantities are in town and are likely to join the field.  Current Season 2 points leader Tony Hachem spearheaded a dinner group of 20 last night and will be playing today.  Andrew Scarf (3rd in points) and John Maklouf (4th) are also expected. ANZPT Sydney High Roller champion Jonathan Karamalikis had a hard time getting through New Zealand customs and immigration yesterday but survived intact to put in some hours at the billiards table last night.  Chances are good he'll play today.

The action will begin at 12:15 local time.  As was the case yesterday, after five levels of play the chip bags will come out and players will be sent off to enjoy the rest of their evenings however they see fit.  We imagine it will involve consumption of adult beverages.  It usually does.