Is bartending the next Olympic sport?  The fans of Legends of Bartending X, “the first invitation only world show bartending competition,” seem to think so.  Held in Las Vegas, NV, Legends of Bartending X, or simply Legends X, is the first invitation-only world competition.

Legends X is ranked as the most prestigious flair bartending competition.  The contest judges bartenders from around the world on what is called “flair bartending,” which is “the practice of bartenders entertaining guests, clientele or audiences with the manipulation of bar tools (e.g. cocktail shakers) and liquor bottles in tricky, dazzling ways.”

The 10th edition of Legends X was held February 24th through the 26th at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino’s night club. Flair Bartenders’ Association along with High Spirits Enterprises organized and sponsored the event. The competition is a level 6 FBA Pro Tour sanctioned event, which helps participants earn points toward the FBA Pro Tour, a year-long competition in which bartenders receive a certain number of points based on their performances in competitions like Legends X.

The 2008 Legends X followed the FBA Standard Scoring System, with qualification rounds lasting 5 minutes, and finals lasting 6 minutes. The competition was split into two events: the Advanced category and the Professional category. The Advanced division was open to all top-rated flair bartenders, while the Professional division was restricted to invitation only. The contest used the FBA Flairco Portable Bar, which contestants could rearrange to suit their performance needs.

The Professional category of Legends X is composed of several events, starting with a qualifying round that includes a Speed Round where bartenders “make drinks and fast and accurate as possible and are scored accordingly”, an accuracy round where the bartenders “make liquor pours and are tested to the one-thousandth of and ounce for accuracy,” and the Exhibition and Working Flair Round where bartenders create drinks using flair bartending. This round is divided into Working Flair, which is flair done behind the bar that does not impede customer service, and Exhibition Flair, where bartenders perform routines to music with a set amount of liquor in the bottles. Past bartenders have been able to perform Exhibition Flair with up to six bottles!

The winner of the 2008 Legends X was Dario Doimo, representing Italy. Dario is known for pulling of tricky moves during flair rounds, which gave him the advantage he needed to win. Doimo can do more than 35 elbow bumps (bouncing a liqour bottle off an elbow) and is excellent at bottle spinning (tossing and flipping bottles through the air in difficult combinations). Doimo won the Pour Test Round by over 14 points as well as the Pour Off on finals night. He landed 2nd place in the Exhibition Flair Round, and scored 3rd place in the Speed Round as well as in the Working Flair Round.

Rodrigo Delpech from Argentina came in a close 2nd. Delpech was the winner of Legends X for the past three years. Delpech won the Speed Round as well as the Speed-Off Head to Head competition on finals night. Delpech scored 3rd in Pour, 2nd in Working Flair, and 3rd in Exhibition Flair.

Despite coming in 3rd overall, it was Danilo Oribe who was the talk of the night. The bartender from Uruguay lost a bottle during the Speed Round, placing dead last in the competition, crushing his chances of winning. 50 points down, Oribe pulled an amazing comeback, scoring 4th in the Pour Test. He went on to win the Working Flair Round by almost 30 points. Oribe also won the Exhibition Flair Round on finals night, and managed to go from last place to 3rd, with only 20 points seperating him and Doimo.

Other rankers in the Professional competition included Vache Manoukian (Armenia/USA) in 4th, Paul Trzcianko (USA) in 5th, Rodrigo Cao (Argentina) in 6th, Sean Story (USA) in 7th, and Jamie Barry (USA) in 8th. Winners of the competition were awarded more than $40,000 worth of cash and prizes.

Billy Zurisk from Rockland California won the Advanced division of Legends X. Steve Jarmuz from Las Vegas scored 2nd place, and Rob Lyons from Arkansas took 3rd.

In an interview, Doimo attributed his career in flair bartending to his brother, Giovanni. “If it wasn’t for Giovanni, I would have never had the chance to explore the world of flair,” Doimo stated. When asked about his drive to win Legends X and other flair competitions, Doimo said, “We [Giovanni and Doimo] are competitors, but we always support each other.” Check out the Doimo family website, where you can locate information about professional flair, bartending tools, and Doimo himself.

Looking for something fun to do this Spring? Legends 2009 is just around the corner. The competition promises to be a good one, with competitors stepping it up in each of the qualifying rounds. Stop by the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino and check out the competition (like you need an excuse to visit Las Vegas).