We report again from the Atlantis resort, site of the PCA for the last 11 years and so named for the fictional continent submerged somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, the subject of stories and songs for many centuries.
First mentioned in passing by Plato in his dialogues, an elaborate mythology developed thereafter supplying details of the island, its supposed history, and the fate of its imagined inhabitants. It’s a long, complicated story. It’s also entertainingly summarized (after a groovy fashion) by Donovan in his 1969 single “Atlantis,” the sing-a-long chorus of which keeps circling through your humble scribbler’s head since arriving.
A worthy inclusion onto greatest hits albums along with “Sunshine Superman” and “Mellow Yellow,” and others, Donovan’s “Atlantis” is one of those tracks that now and then still earns a spin on classic rock stations.
The first third of the five-minute anthem features Donovan’s wistful, melancholy-filled narration summarizing in broad strokes the lost continent’s story. His version briefly touches upon the flood that sank Atlantis, then describes the fate of its necessarily erstwhile inhabitants — how “from her western shores those beautiful sailors journeyed” to carry “the Atlantian culture… to all corners of the Earth.”
Then comes the chorus, sung as though to an imagined lost love:
“Way down… below the ocean… where I wanna be, she may be…”
According to an unofficial count tracked earlier this morning, the line is repeated 14 times before the final fadeout — think the Beatles’ “Hey Jude” for an idea of the tune’s compositional structure. (Perhaps not incidentally, Paul McCartney is said to have contributed to “Atlantis.”)
The repetition of the line explains why the lyric sticks in the brain for some of us upon hearing the word “Atlantis.” It just keeps coming back, like wave after wave after wave.
Like the song, Day 1 of the $100,000 Super High Roller began in a similarly leisurely fashion — as Howard Swains reported a short time ago. Only a couple of tables’ worth of players seated for the first hands, with others gradually appearing at neighboring tables as all unhurriedly began the business of vying with one another for the chips, 250,000 of which were supplied to each to start.
Before the first level could end, Zach Hyman scored a big double-up through Bill Perkins after a turn card simultaneously brought the former a full house and the latter a flush. Perkins is now short, though if he were to lose the rest of his stack he will surely reenter — as will be the option to all through the start of tomorrow’s Day 2.
Level 2 then saw the day’s first casualty when Justin Bonomo turned two pair to felt Roger Sippl, sending Bonomo over the 500,000-chip mark. (Sippl appears prepared to reenter, too.) Meanwhile Olivier Busquet and Pratyush Buddiga have also added to their starting stacks to begin play, while Ole Schemion and Cary Katz have lost a few amid the day’s early adventures.
More are seated now — the big board lists 41 entries so far after the day’s first break — and as the blinds and antes increase we’ll watch as more players sink further and become submerged entirely.
Meanwhile others, like Donovan’s “antediluvian kings,” will carry their chips onward.
Hail Atlantis!
Follow all the action from the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure at PokerStars Blog. Head to the Super High Roller page to see hand-by-hand updates and chip counts in the panel at the top of the page, with feature articles below. Action starts soon on EPT Live.
Martin Harris is Freelance Contributor to the PokerStars Blog.
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