According to the European Poker Tour, today they are announcing an exciting new technology to be used in an upcoming documentary about Rafa Nadal playing poker to be distributed in 2014.
Players competing in the Eureka Prague Main Event will certainly have spotted a a poker table at the back of the room forming part of a TV set and ringed by an awesome-looking array of Canon cameras. Many will probably also have guessed that this has something to do with the forthcoming €100k charity poker tournament which Team PokerStars SportStar Rafa Nadal is competing in today along with Brazilian football legend Ronaldo, Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu and other sports stars.
You can follow the action from that event on the Twitter hashtag #RafaPrague.
What are the cameras for though? Arrayed in a tight semi-circle and all pointing directly at the poker table, they look as if they have been abandoned by dozens of poker paparazzi. In fact, the cameras are triggered electronically and form the key element for unique “time freeze” footage that will be shot during Rafa’s tournament. They will form part of a documentary made by Shine North/Princess Productions.
The technology was developed by British electronics engineer Peter Johnston to create the effect of a camera whizzing around a central figure, while the object of attention appears to be either completely static or moving in very slow motion. Such techniques were first used on the TV show “The Cube” and have since been used to create some absolutely stunning footage, including dancers who appear “frozen” in mid-air while a camera races around them on the show ‘Got to Dance.’ Many of the same staff are here in Prague.
A total of 80 cameras will be used in Prague with 80 frames shot each time – creating around 3.5 seconds of footage. Johnston said: “I think we are the only people who can create the slow-motion effect, where the cameras are triggered sequentially at about 100 milisecond intervals to create a slow-motion effect – and we’re constantly developing the technology still further to create more and more exciting effects.”
Poker fans will get the chance to see the results when a documentary on Rafa playing poker is released in 2014 across Europe.
*Post and photos courtesy of the EPT Press Release.
There's eight levels of play scheduled today, each of them taking 75 minutes to complete. The tournament clock now mentions 330 players having signed up for the first of the two starting days. With a little over one level in the books, two players (Ruslan Prydryk and Alexander Goulder) have already exited the tournament. The EPT Main Event is no re-entry tournament so those two unfortunate guys will have to wait another year to participate again.
Mexican all time money leader JC Alvarado has taken his seat and Portugese PokerStars Team Pro Henrique Pinho,m who cashed in the EUREKA Main Event this week, is seated not far away. Bracelet winners Jake Cody and Matt Perrins are also in the building playing cards.
Matt Frankland opened to 350 and online qualifier Istvan Birizdo defended from the small blind to see a heads up flop of . Birizdo led out for 550 and Frankland called. The turn was the and again Frankland called a bet, this time of 1,500. The river was the and Birizdo checked it over. Frankland reached for chips and made it 4,500. A snap call from Birizdo who tabled but he had been out flopped by the of Frankland.
The next hand was opened by PokerStars Team Pro Jake Cody who had recently joined the table. He made it 300 and was raised by the battling Birizdo from the button to 600. The blinds folded and the two players saw a flop of . Cody checked it over to the qualifier who continued the aggression with a bet of 1,000. It was enough to win him that pot.
Ami Barer - final table chip leader. Photo courtesy of the PokerStars Blog.
Our colleague, Nick Wright, is here in Prague covering the final table of the Eureka Poker Tour Main Event, which attracted 1,315 players. Today, the final eight players returned to action with PokerStars qualifier Ami Barer leading the way.
The young Canadian has won over $5.5 million online under the nickname "UhhMee." He has won two FTOPS titles and came close to winning a SCOOP bracelet but fell short at heads-up stage in Event #03 back in 2011. Eureka Prague could be Barer's biggest live success; so far his largest live cash is €45,000 after he finished 25th at the 2009 EPT Grand Final.
Also at the table is Team PokerStars Pro Marcin Horecki, a professional player who used to be a successful alpine skier winning several medals for the national Poland team. An injury forced him to end his sports career and, after starting to play the card game Magic: The Gathering, he soon moved into poker. In October 2008 he finished third at the EPT London Main Event to take home £303,439 and repeated the same result at EPT Prague two years later when he finishing third again for a €247,000 payday. Horecki has also notched up two MicroMillions Player of the Series titles.
Another notable seeking the title is Stephen Chidwick, a well-known British pro who has had huge success both live and online. Known on PokerStars as "stevie444", Chidwick has won almost $4 million online including a $320 WCOOP Pot Limit Badugi event back in September. Chidwick first came to fame when he famously won 100 seats on PokerStars for the 2008 World Series when he was only 19. He now has several WSOP final tables to his name. His biggest live cash came in this year's World Series when he finished third in the $25,000 NL 6-handed event for $353,780; his total live winnings exceed $1.5 million.
For more information and to follow the action, head on over to the PokerStars Blog.
We picked up the action on the flop with and three players having checked to Albert Daher in the hijack. He bet out 1,350 and the small blind and EPT champion Michael Tureniec in the big blind made the call. The fourth player opted to fold and so just three of them saw a turn: . Again action checked to Daher, who now choose to bet 4,000. The player in the small blind folded but Tureniec again made the call.
The river completed the board with the and Tureniec gently knocked on the table for the third time in a row. Daher made it 7,500 to go and Tureniec thought about it for a minute or two before calling. "You got it," Daher said while checking his cards. He mucked them as Tureniec tabled the .
. Birizdo led out for 550 and Frankland called. The turn was the 
and again Frankland called a bet, this time of 1,500. The river was the 
and Birizdo checked it over. Frankland reached for chips and made it 4,500. A snap call from Birizdo who tabled 
but he had been out flopped by the 
of Frankland.
. Cody checked it over to the qualifier who continued the aggression with a bet of 1,000. It was enough to win him that pot.
and three players having checked to Albert Daher in the hijack. He bet out 1,350 and the small blind and EPT champion Michael Tureniec in the big blind made the call. The fourth player opted to fold and so just three of them saw a turn: 
. Again action checked to Daher, who now choose to bet 4,000. The player in the small blind folded but Tureniec again made the call.
