Reporting on a poker tournament is not exactly front-line journalism. We're not in parliament or a war-zone; no one will lose their job or their life. But all things are relative, of course, and approaching a player when they have just lost an enormous pot, or been eliminated from the tournament, can still cause a degree of trepidation. In poker terms, that's the equivalent of a death knock.
As the clock was ticking down to the end of level 11, I wandered over to Matt Carter's table, keen to find out a bit more about the New Zealander who was the first to get through the 200,000 chip mark in this event. But just as was predicted back at the start of the day, Carter had found himself in a pot with the other huge stack, belonging to Tomaz Yip, and the casual break-time chat depended on Carter winning this one.
There's something about both of these players' table demeanour that had suggested this confrontation may have been on the cards. Yip, chip leader at the end of yesterday, has that poise about him that suggests he just loves playing big-pot poker. Meanwhile Carter has the chips to oblige him.
And when it was just these two to a flop of [5d][as][ad], the big stacks duly went to war. Yip checked, Carter bet 4,500 and then Yip raised to 20,000. Carter three bet to 41,000 and Yip called, taking the pot to close to 100,000.
The [qd] turned and Yip asked for the all in triangle to be put in front of him. It was a 118,500-chip shove, and it gave Carter something to ponder. Carter counted his own stack down. He still had about 195,000 even minus the amount in the middle. He could call, be wrong, and still be in (but lower than average); he could fold and still have more than the average; or he could call, win, and be the tournament chip leader.
Of course Yip will have known that all of those options were open to Carter, and could easily have been preying on precisely this uncertainty. (It was even more stark for Yip, though. If Carter did call and win, Yip would be out.)
Talking to Carter would have been pretty much out of the question had he lost this pot. You don't wander up to anyone immediately after they have shipped an enormous stack over the table. But Carter actually opted to fold, still losing a decent-sized pot, but still left with about 195,000. (Yip turned over a [jd], which could mean pretty much anything.)
This presented a tough moment for the reporter. Carter probably still wanted a trip away to clear his head, rather than a natter to someone who is going to write it all down. It left me also with a kind of middle option: a couple of quickfire questions as Carter came back to his seat on the resumption.
In truth, Carter seemed perfectly composed, coming back to that near 200,000 stack. He confirmed that he's from Auckland, and has qualified for this event via a $33 triple chance satellite on PokerStars, meaning his total investment is a mere $129 for this trip to Macau.
Once we get through the day and into the money, we'll learn much more about Carter no doubt. His biggest live cash to date came in Auckland last year, when he won the equivalent of about US $12,000. That record could easily be broken here this week.
Video interlude
Jordan Westmorland has been grinding a short stack all day, but is still in as the money approaches:
A reminder on how to follow our coverage from Macau. There is hand-by-hand coverage at the top of the main APPT Macau page, which includes chip counts. Feature coverage will filter in beneath the panel. All the information about the Asia Pacific Poker Tour is on the APPT site, and PokerStars Macau also has its own home.