What do you get for the poker player who has everything? In the case of Fady Kamar it was nothing.
Steven Silverman and Anthony Gregg found this a short while ago when play in the high roller went three-handed, with Kamar the obvious short stack.
The three of them discussed a deal which led Silverman and Gregg to come to him with a gift worth €515,000, some €104,000 more than third place money. But Kamar didn't want €515,000. He wanted €550,000.
Steven Silverman
Silverman and Gregg couldn't do this so they played on for a little bit while they wracked their brains for something else to give him. You know how it is, sometimes the harder you think the more difficult it is to come up with the appropriate gift.
But then Silverman and Gregg realised that the best way to decide would be to think really hard about what Kamar might like more than anything in the world. It couldn't be money, but perhaps a bigger slice of the pie would give him more money with which to buy something nice.
Anthony Gregg
So they wrapped up another bundle, this time worth €560,000, and presented it to Kamar. They thought this would please him, given that it was ten grand more than what he'd originally thought he wanted. But no, said Kamar, having disappeared to make a phone call to someone whose will seemed stronger than Kamar's, if he existed at all.
Kamar returned and asked for €600,000. Both Silverman and Gregg laughed, but only because they were thinking of a joke they'd heard earlier. They wanted Kamar to be happy and knew that throwing more money at him was simply not working for him or for the man on the phone. "Good luck," said Kamar by way of declining.
Fady Kamar
But Silverman and Gregg couldn't bear to see Kamar unhappy and offered €570,000, and to cover his phone bill. Kamar disappeared with his telephone again. Silverman and Gregg talked briefly, shaking their heads and laughing nervously. I couldn't hear what they were saying but the body language said "What can we do to help Kamar accept our hospitality?"
Kamar returned, shaking his head again, looking like he'd had an earful from the man on the telephone. So with another "good luck" they played on.
And play on they did, Kamar doubling up, and more, before frustration brought them all to a denouement. Silverman and Gregg had one last brainwave. Why not just split things three ways?
It was the happy ending to a difficult period - an even split, with just a trophy and the Shamballa bracelet left in the middle to play for. Finally, they worked out that it was that, which Kamar wanted more than anything; the title, a trophy and some Shamballa. It was a relief to Gregg, whose concern for the wellbeing of Kamar had become too much. "I'm too tilted," he said. "Let's deal and get me outta here!"
And so they did, happily ever after.
You were thinking that it was about the money? No, no, it can't be. There's only €15,000 left in the middle to play for. Peanuts.
Stephen Bartley is a PokerStars Blog reporter.
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