Eric Cantona was not an idiot. For this reason, he chose not to stand on busy street corners on upturned boxes shouting at the top of his voice about criminal activities; the Police and G-Men were bribed and corrupt, not beneficiaries of the Helen Keller Foundation. No, Cantona did his business the way business should be done, in bars and speakeasies. These establishments were housed in the most unlikeliest of places: disused warehouses, storage units and even churches! Residential basements, Railway signal boxes and other locales besides. The places were totally unknown to federal law enforcement, and the locals were happy enough that the mobsters kept to themselves and didn't rub people's nose in their affairs and for that reason, they were left alone. Using this relative immunity to his advantage, Eric Cantona had gathered most of the associates he knew for a special announcement.


"Good evening mes amis! I am glad you could call join me. After a few of you made nice noises about my statements over on OOC Avenue, I have taken it upon myself to organise a little poker game. Recently, a gentleman who owed me money refused to pay and, well, I'm no story teller - but the fact is I now own a rather large warehouse on the city limits which is perfect for a nice quiet place to play some cards.

Eric motioned behind him with a hand loosely holding a cigarette (he smoked Galoises, of course) to the two large blackboards which normally had details of the baseball and football betting. Tonight they were wiped clean. One one blackboard was a simple map showing directions to the warehouse. On the other board were specific details of the tourney:

TEXAS NO LIMIT HOLD 'EM TOURNAMENT - STARTING ON SATURDAY 22ND JUNE AT 19:00 (MAFIA TIME) EXACTLY:

- The buy in for this tournament is $500,000, no exceptions or negotiations.

- The predicted prize structure is as follows, though may change depending on participation:

• 3rd place  -$500,000
• 2nd place -$1,000,000
• 1st place - Remaining Prize Pot - Fort Hubcaps will be taking no house fee on this special opening tournament!

- Each player will start with 2,000 chips.  Blinds will start at 15/30 and increase every 10 minutes.

- There will be at 5 minute break at 55 minutes past each hour until completion of the tournament.

- There is no maximum number of competitors; though a maximum of 6 players will be seated at each table.

- Tourney Registration is available immediately and will stay open right up until there start of the tournament, with a 10 minute late registration period available.

- All tournament buy ins are payable to Cantona.

 

Giving people a few moments of silence to allow them to digest the information on the boards, Cantona munched contentedly on a croque madame sandwich before continuing.

"Now, most of the information you need should be up there, but there is just one more thing I'd like to make you are of. Along with Fort Hubcaps making no profit on this special tourney, the elegant and charitable Ziva has pledged a fantastic $1,000,000 of additional prize money into the pot if at least 2 tables (12 entrants) are fully occupied."

"Interested? You should be. Depending on the success of this tournament, you can expect further announcements and information about the formation of a Poker League; with regular bonuses and incentives for high quality players, regular players and players who (bless their cotton little socks) do try their hardest."

"If you have any questions, if there is anything you are unsure about or if there is a hooligan you would like me to kick in the face - please mobmail me for further details"

As the conversation gradually returns to its normal leve, Eric skulks in the background waiting for any questions and doing some stereotypically french shit.

I am..so in.

This sounds fantastic, I am gonna try my best to be available for it. I hope we do get as many people as possible, more cash for me to win!

I shall be there, looking forward to it 

A quick announcement:

I'll be moving the tournament to Sunday 23rd June; still with a start time of 19:00 mafia time. If you've already registered for the tournament and this will affect your ability to take part, please let me know.

If you've expressed interest and know you're definitely going to play, please make a commitment asap so I'm able to adjust the pot split accordingly! Thanks!