Friday, 29th March 2024 11:02
Home / Uncategorized / PokerStars Championship presented by Monte-Carlo Casino®: The king of yachts in the land of yachts

It’s hard to impress a bunch of poker players playing for millions of Euros in a casino flanked by Ferraris and Lamborghinis, but Monaco has a way of doing that.

Players were awestruck when the largest sailing yacht in the world, Sailing Yacht A, docked in plain view of the tournament area a few days ago. Yacht Harbour News reports that the 143-metre long vessel was handed off to its owner, Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko, just a few days ago.

Their first stop? Monaco of course.

NEIL9154_Motor_Yacht_A_Sailing_Yacht_A_PCMON2017_Neil Stoddart.jpg

More than $750 million worth of boats. Motor Yacht A (left) and Sailing Yacht A (right).

The half-billion dollar vessel boasts three, 100-metre masts and a sleek steel design that’s reminiscent of alien ships from Arrival. It even has an area that we saw smaller boats come out of. Sailing Yacht A is also reported to have an underwater observation deck, a helipad and a black glass digital control system.

Sailing Yacht A is probably the only thing that can steal the thunder away from Motor Yacht A, Melnichenko’s $300 million vessel. We know that because they’re right next to each other. The two boats have been docked next to each other for the past few days, attracting paparazzi and impressing poker players used to Monaco’s excesses.


Want to play poker in Monaco with superyachts in the background? Sign up and begin your journey. Click here to get an account.


The two superyachts were designed by Philippe Starck, a French designer who also designed a watch worn by one of our very own bloggers. While that watch’s strap has broken a few times, Sailing Yacht A is built with bomb proof glass and even has the largest pieces of curved glass ever made. At night, the pair of super yachts shine bright colored lights on the ocean, just in case there was a pair of eyeballs in Monaco had missed this $750 million pair of vessels.

No player has managed to make it onto one of these superyachts as far as we know, but there are still a handful of players fighting for millions of their own here at the Monte-Carlo Bay Casino. The PokerStars Championship presented by Monte-Carlo Casino® Main Event drew enough players to form a €3.5 million prize pool while the High Roller got a €4.5 million one. The Super High Roller garnered the biggest prize pool of them all with nearly €6.0 million.

Perhaps if all the players agreed, we could combine all the prize pools and put a down payment on Motor Yacht A now that Melnichenko has a new vessel. An easier way on the superyachts might be with an invitation from Melnichenko himself.

That being said, the next PokerStars Championship is in Melnichenko’s home country and Sochi is right on the Black Sea. Melnichenko could sail there by the end of the month and take a shot at the Super High Roller while we volunteer to take care of his superyacht.

Deal?

NEIL4792_Ferrari_PCMON2017_Neil Stoddart.jpg

Monaco, a land of luxury


The road to Monte Carlo starts on PokerStars. Sign up and begin your journey. Click here to get an account.


For live updates from the €25K High Roller, visit PokerNews.

Take a look at the official website of PokerStars LIVE, with tournament schedule, news, results and accommodation details for the PokerStars Championship presented by Monte-Carlo Casino® and all other Festival and Championship events.

Also all the information is on the PokerStars LIVE App, which is available on both Android or IOS.

Alexander Villegas is a freelance contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

Study Poker with Pokerstars Learn, practice with the PokerStars app