Monaco and €1Million Poker

Quick update:
Couple days was spent in Monaco for an extra special poker event! I went to see the Big One for One Drop which is a charity tournament with a €1 million buy in. It was held in the gorgeous Monte Carlo Casino. I will go into details in a bit, but let me just take a moment to appreciate the picturesque balcony view from the Monte Carlo Bay Hotel. I have some misgiving about the hotel as well as Monaco in general, but you have to give them credit when it comes to views.

So, the casino. Some quick facts:

Monte Carlo Casino was built in 1863.
The idea of opening the casino conceived was by Princess Caroline, to save the family from bankruptcy.
The casino was at first inconvenient with no roads or hotels nearby, with losing revenue.
In 1878-79, the casino was renovated by the famous Charles Garnier.
Until recently, the casino was the main source of income for the Monaco economy.

I was especially fascinated by the interior. It's complex with lavish decor and high ceilings that is packed with paintings and elaborate molding. Normally photos/videos are off-limits - no phones or cameras allowed. But the event was held in a private room with filming rights so I took advantage of the rare opportunity to happily snap and shoot away.

A little about the event. It's a charity event hosted by Guy Laliberte, known as the founder and CEO of Cirque du Soleil. His charity foundation One Drop supplies clean water for those in need. 11% of the buy in at 1 million euros goes to charity, and with ~30 players they were able to raise 3 million euros. While professional poker players were not allowed to play, we were able to watch and cheer for the players.

The only person I knew there was Elton Tsang, who I met a few years back - who actually happened to win the first place for €11,111,111 !

Unfortunately most of my videos were streamed online with bad quality and cut off due to bad wifi. But I've got some photos of the cheerleaders:

All great events must end with a celebration.
A few of us gathered at the nearby Nobu for a relaxing meal. It was a rather quiet weekday and some delicious fish and a large order of sake was just the perfect end to the night.

Shitake salad

New style white fish

Fried shrimp

Fried soft shelled crab

Rolls and sashimi platter

Wagyu beef dumplings

Miso cod

Although...sometimes even on quiet nights you get a surprise. An overly friendly drunk person wanted a photo with us, too and jumped in mid shot. Judging by his slurred speech he quite enjoyed being the third wheel and won't remember this the next day.