I'm here with
another trip report. Just want to warn you in advance that this post
is gonna be loooooong (possibly my longest post ever!), so sit back and
relax, grab a coffee or do whatever else makes you comfortable. Okay,
ready? Here we go!
Normally, when I fly
to a destination for the first time I like to have a couple of days
to explore the city. VIP Club Live: Stockholm however was scheduled
for a weekend that was rather complicated for me. First of all, it
was during the pre-SCOOP period where I have a lot more games running
than usual. Secondly, André couldn't
come with me so I didn't think it would be a as good to have a lonely extended
weekend in Stockholm wandering around all by myself.
Therefore, I thought it
was a good idea to go there on Saturday and fly back to Lisbon on
Sunday. I made the flight and hotel arrangements with the VIP Club Events manager and was ready to go. I started
regretting my choice on Friday just before the event. I got a message
from Bekki, Alex Millar's girlfriend, saying that they had just
arrived in Stockholm and wanted to invite me to do some sightseeing
with them. I obviously couldn't go. I regretted it even more when I
had to get up at 4 am on Saturday to catch my 6 am flight. I realized
that by the time I got to my destination I'd probably be exhausted
and not really in the mood for partying. I should have gone to Stockholm at least a day earlier, lesson learnt.
It was meant to be a great
trip though and things started looking up early: I got to Lisbon
airport and found that Starbucks which normally doesn't open before 7
am was actually open that day (maybe because it was the weekend?). I'm a known
Starbucks-aholic so that made my day right there. With my coffee in
hand, I proceeded to the boarding gate where I was informed that the
plane was overbooked so I had been upgraded to Business Class. Okay,
I can live with that!
Business class? Ummm, yes please!
Arriving in Stockholm
After a very pleasant
flight I arrived in Munich and from there I took the next plane to
Stockholm. When arrived in the city my first thought was “Where are
all the real people and who put all these models here?”. Honestly,
I find Swedish people to be very good looking and stylish. And I'm
referring to both men and women. Also, the streets were very clean
and the stores nicely decorated. Very positive first impression
overall. By the time I got to the hotel it was already past 3 pm. I
checked in my room and shortly after Bekki and Alex came to meet me.
We were casually talking when the Team Online Battle came up. I took
3 juggling balls out of my suitcase and threw them to Alex to see
what level his skills were at. He clumsily caught them (almost
dropping them to the floor)... And then started effortlessly juggling them in the
air while explaining that “last time he did that was probably when
he was 13 years old or something”. Are you surprised? I sure was at
that point, cause I clearly remember him saying on his video that “he
can't juggle”. I was staring at him open-mouthed, not wanting to believe that he'd played us all. Basically if Alex tells me that the sky is blue,
I'll go out and make sure that it's not pink. That's how much I trust
his words these days!
My hotel room
I really liked the modern bathroom
Anyway, we went
downstairs where Chris (the Team Online manager) joined us and we all
headed to a place nearby for a coffee. Apart from a very good
breakfast and a small snack I hadn't had anything to eat that day and
it was already way past lunchtime, but the place we went to was
famous for their cinnamon buns so it seemed inappropriate to order
anything else. Next stop was Sturecompagniet where the party was held.
There were a lot of performers
That's where I met Luka
“LukaSteel” Kovač, another one of Team Online's latest additions.
He's a very nice guy and I liked him from the start. Once everything
was ready, Alex, Luka and I got seated at a table and started
receiving the people that came to the party.
Beginning of the evening, back when Alex and I were still friends
Every person attending had
the right to vote for one of us to win the competition, a similar
procedure to the one that was held online. While waiting for everyone
to come and explaining to people why they should vote for us, Alex
and Luka had a couple of beers. I chose to stick to tea and juice.
That's what I call squeezing any equity you can get! Once all the
guests had arrived and voted it was time to start the first ever Team
Online Battle.
Proof that I was the only one sober
Team Online Battle - Round
1
First we had the
Swedish Trivia questions. True to my word, I had been reading a bit
about Sweden during the weeks leading up to the competition. Which is
why it was very easy to leave the other two competitors behind. I won
the first round while Luka finished 2nd
and Alex came 3rd.
So far so good!
Team Online Battle - Round
2
Juggling. As you can
probably imagine, I was rather nervous about this one after Alex
demonstrated his skills back at the hotel. However, the juggler that
would be giving us the tasks said that we would be doing more
than one tricks, so I had hopes that I would do better in anything
that didn't involve juggling 3 balls in the air. And I had been
practicing juggling a bit. I went from being completely useless to
being able to do 3 catches. Here's what we had to do after all:
- Throw a ball high in the air, make a 360o spin and catch the ball.
- Throw a ring in the air, have it make a spin and pass through the head landing on the shoulders.
- Balance a stick on the chin for 5 seconds.
- Juggle 3 balls in the air.
Since this round consisted
of several parts, I actually didn't do that bad finishing second
after Alex. Luka came in last.
Team Online Battle - Round
3
The last part was slot car
racing. That's something that we couldn't have prepared in
advance cause we didn't have the equipment at home (and none of us
was crazy enough to buy it! :P ). We were given a bit of time to
practice before the guests arrived. I noticed that Alex was the
fastest of the three, but going fast also meant risking your car
going out of the tracks more often. Luka on the other hand was slower
but more prudent, not getting off the tracks much. Having your car
fly off the tracks meant that someone had to go and pick it from
wherever it was that it fell and put it back on the tracks so that
you can continue the race. During practice I found Luka's strategy to
be better and decided to not speed it up too much. There were four
people standing around the table where the tracks were built and
their task was to pick up any cars that fell off and put them right
back.
Practice makes perfect!
When we finally got to
that part of the Battle, I was first in the overall score. That meant
that I could start the race first, while Alex would be given a 3
second handicap and Luka a 6 seconds handicap. That was going to work
just fine with my strategy since I was already ahead while the other
two would have to risk going fast in order to get me. The first one
to complete 10 laps would win. I could already smell the victory!
Well guess what. After all
three cars were well into the race, my car went off the track. The
girl closest to it picked it up, and then another car went off the
tracks (I think it was Luka's but not sure). She picked up the other
car as well, but instead of putting my car back first she put the
other one. As if that wasn't bad enough, when she did return my car to the tracks she didn't place it well so it wouldn't start. She had to
insist on it a bit and by the time I got back in the race, the others were
already a couple of laps ahead of me. Not only did I lose the
advantage I had since I was the only one starting the race without a
handicap, but I was forced to stay even further behind.
Losing valuable time I
knew I had to go “all in”. My original strategy of not speeding
up and trying to stay on track wouldn't work anymore cause I had to
try to make up for lost ground. I made a run for it, but it was
already too late. Alex was announced to be the winner of the race
shortly afterward which also meant he won the Team Online Battle.
Congratulations Alex!
I was feeling bummed to put it mildly, mostly because I don't think I lost fairly.
I'm not putting the blame in anyone in specific cause both Alex and
Luka played fair and square. I can't even blame the girl who didn't
put the car back right away, the whole thing only lasted a couple of minutes and it's pretty hard to follow what's going on and act fast. You can call it
a bad moment, but it is what it is and it cost me the victory. So I
really apologize to all the people that voted for me (both online and
at the party). I tried to prepare and did my best, it was just not
meant to be this time! :(
Time to party!
After the Team Online
Battle was over it was time to move downstairs to the Crystal Bar. I
was excited to try out the Chocolate Fountain but I only got a
glimpse of it from far away. The PokerStars photo booth that was
placed near the entrance won me over!
From left to right: With Bekki, Luka and Alex and some new friends!
With an open bar and a
great DJ the night was guaranteed to be a success. I got to meet a
lot of other players which was a lot of fun and later on we danced the night away! Alex and I became friends again on the dance
floor (it's hard to hold a grudge against him when he's dancing!) and the place was still full of people when we left around 3.30
am. My high expectations for the night were definitely exceeded and
now I'm looking forward even more to Lisbon's VIP Club Live party
this June!
Party...
...and then party some more!
Visit to Subway after the party. Luka wanted to order a greek teriyaki chicken sandwich. Go figure!
The next day
I somehow woke up before
my alarm went off on Sunday morning. It was probably because my
stomach wasn't feeling all that great after the previous night's
drinking. I didn't get drunk, but I lost count of how many drinks I
had. Fortunately, nothing a good breakfast can't cure! At breakfast,
I started chatting with two Swedish players and they offered to show
me around the city. I had a couple of hours before heading to the
airport and I hadn't seen any of Stockholm yet, so that was great! On
our way out of the hotel we saw Dylan (the VIP Club Events manager)
and Zeljka (who's responsible for organizing the Eureka Poker tour).
They were also headed towards the center of the city, so we all went
there together. I'll stop talking (or in this case writing) and let
the photos do the rest of the work.
Intercultural goodbyes
I've mentioned this subject in my
blog some years ago, when I first moved to Portugal. How do you say
goodbye to someone? Do you just say the words, hug them or kiss them?
Back then I thought it was confusing to say goodbye to people that
are used to start the double-kiss on the cheeks from the left when I,
as a Greek, am used to start from the right. Well, try saying goodbye
to people that don't do the kissing thing at all! You are leaning in
for a kiss when people are pulling you in for a hug... Or even worse,
you are getting up close and physical when they want to maintain a
distance... It gets messy/ awkward/ slightly humiliating! It is
obviously a cultural matter, the thing is that when you meet people
from other countries you don't necessarily know if you should expect
a hugger, a kisser or even a hand-shaker. And even if you do,
sometimes they try to be polite by doing what is tradition in your
country and not theirs. Well, it won't work if you are trying to outsmart them by doing the exact same thing! So basically I've come to the conclusion that
intercultural goodbyes are going to be weird no matter what, unless
you're not friendly with the person and just say the words but make
no moves. But just so you know, both Greece where I grew up and
Portugal where I live are Mediterranean countries and we are in the
kissing category!
I guess that's all for my
Stockholm trip report. It was a great, fun weekend but now that it's
over it's time to go back to the grind. The SCOOP is coming up, see
you at the tables!
