Spelers die hebben meegespeeld in een WPT in Nederland (ofergens in Europa) hebben hem ongetwijfeld al in actie gezien: toernooidirecteurChristian Scalzi (43). Hij runt toernooien met strakke hand, spreekt vijf talenen reist van WPT naar WPT. De WPT National Valkenburg is zijn derde bezoek aanNederland als toernooidirecteur, na vorig jaar Valkenburg en eerder dit jaar degrote WPT in Amsterdam. PokerCity sprak met de Italiaan uit San Remo over deTDA, de WPT, het vele reizen en natuurlijk de WPT National in Valkenburg.Aangezien het Italiaans van uw verslaggever niet echt werkbaar is en ondanksjaren Franse les ook die taal verre van vloeiend is, ging het gesprek in hetEngels.
Christian,this is your second time in Valkenburg for the WPT National. How do you like ithere?
“The location is very good! I have to be honest; last year when my company toldme we signed with Holland Casino and the first time will be in Valkenburg, I hadto look it up on google to know where it was. The casino is really nice, thepokerroom is nice, the hotel where I stay is very nice and the apartmentsnearby are very convenient. Everybody is relaxed and just wants to enjoy a nicepoker experience. And that is what we need for the players and what we’relooking for. There are a lot of amateur players here. Holland was one of thefirst country’s top pick up on poker when it started to come to Europe and I knowthat they really like poker here.”
What’s it like working with Dutch players and casino employees, compared tosome of the other countries you’ve worked?
“It’s really different to work with 300 Italians, 300 Norwegians or 300 Dutchpeople. It’s easy for me to work with Nordic players because they are morerelaxed. In Italy and Spain during the bubble, sometimes everybody is standing andyou have fifty people behind one table. That is very difficult with amicrophone to manage.
It helps that I can speak multiple languages, so it’s easier to communicate. Ithink a tournament director of referee, which we are, should try to be nice andunderstanding. This has helped me in the past and I hope it will help me in thefuture as well. I try to pick up on the Dutch language, but it is not easy. Ican understand German, but Dutch is a bit harder. I am very lucky, because allthe Dutch people talk English well which is great.”
In Holland, we like to agree on something before we decide to do it and we callit the ‘poldermodel’. I’ve see you in action and you’re more of a director inthe classic way if I may say so. You’re the boss.
“Here I am alone and work with the local staff, sometimes I have my team withme. For me the most important thing is find out who are the people that canreally help me from the local staff. I am responsible so I have the last word,but I try to work with the team. The first time is always more difficult, thesecond time you know each other so it all goes easier then. The staff inValkenburg is quite good and they like poker a lot. If you like poker it’s’alwayseasier, because then we are on the same page.”
Christian Scalzi samen met WPT National Valkenburg 2015 High Roller winnaar Niels van Leeuwen
You travel around Europe and some countries outside Europe as well to directWPT tournaments. How many tournaments did you attend last year?
“A lot! I didn’t count. My wife knows, because it’s on the calendar. She and mydaughter are happy for my career, but they would like to have me at home alittle bit more. For that reason I do not do all of the WPT Europe. AfterValkenburg I’ll go to Bruxelles, then I’m at home for two weeks and then it’s offto the UK for a big festival in Nottingham, which is our next big challenge.”
Yeah I heard about it. The WPT500 in the Dusk till Dawn pokerroom inNottingham. Can you tell me a bit about that event?
“Basically, it’s a big one. It’s a WPT500 in Europe, like we did in the Aria inLas Vegas. There will be a one million pound guaranteed Main Event with abuy-in of 550 pound. It’s never easy to manage a big, big field but Dusk TillDawn has a very good organization all together. Still, it will be a challenge.The entire festival has a guaranteed prizepool of 2,5 million pounds. Onemillion for the 2.200 pound Main Event, one million for the WPT500 and 500.000for the High Roller and other side events. I hope that a lot of Dutch playerswill come, i am in touch with a few of them. I expect to see of lot Dutchplayers in Bruxelles next week as well, which is great.”
I rememberlast year at the WPT National Valkenburg, you had a flight early Monday morningto Londen to be at the Alpha8 Super High Roller. That must be something else,directing a Super High Roller coming from a 500 euro buy-in event!
“Of course, when you are responsible for the highroller – basically it’s thesame job , but in truth, it’s not. Everything should be really accurate and theplayers are used to having a really, really good service. They are High Rollerplayers so they should feel like they are playing a big event. These events aregreat for pokerfans as well, who like to see the superstars of poker play. Ithink poker is the only sport – we want to sportify poker – were anybody canbeat the world champion. It’s difficult to imagine an amateur player to beatfor example Roger Federer in tennis. This is an important aspect of thepopularity of poker. Anybody can be a hero.”
Is that something you take into account as a tournament director when making aruling, whether it’s an amateur or a pro making a mistake or breaking a rule?
“The amateur players are really important for the game of poker. We talkedabout that at the TDA summit in Las Vegas this summer. Amateurs are normal people,who play like, for, five tournaments a year. They have a job, but they like anlove to play poker. It is for that reason that we decided at the TDA meetingnot to be too strict with them. The pokerworld has a lot of procedures and alot of terms, not all amateurs know all the rules. For example if an amateurchecks the nuts behind, because he didn’t see the flush he should get a oneround penalty. But it is the discretion of the tournament director tounderstand who you have in front of you. We don’t want to chase the amateuraway by being very strict with them, while they just made an honest mistake andmean no harm by it.
WPT Nationals are great for both amateurs and pro’s alike. The amateur can wina huge prize for an reasonable buy-in and the pro’s can get value out of afield with more amateurs. In Valkenburg there is one WPT a year, so the amateurplayer is perhaps already planning to play this tournament for a long time,thinking I will take my week off work then and play the WPT. We need to attractthis kind of player, not punish them.”
I couldn’t agree more with you on this subject. Mentioning the TDA meeting –which rules are used in the Holland Casino as well – what other subjects didyou talk about that we need to know of?
“We talk about a lot of things, always keeping in mind what is best for thegame of poker. For example we talked about the ‘first card off the deck’ rule,about when players have to be at their seat when a hand is dealt. We returnedto the ‘last card off the deck’ rule, because it is better for the players. DanielNegreanu came to the summit to talk about this rule and how the last card offthe deck rule is better for the players. In the end, the players spend themoney so I can understand that most of them like the last card off the deckrule better.”
Thank you for your time and good look with the big one in Nottingham. We hopeto see you in Amsterdam and Valkenburg again next year!
