Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[Doobs]

Booked the Norway tickets yet?

Did you know Adam Owen was 3rd in EPT Barcelona.  I think you were a fan.  I only found out yesterday.  Hard yo get fast news in this day and age it seems.

How did the new highroller go?  I was too knacked to play it.  I suspect it will never be as prestigious as the Monday £30 bounty hunter.  

[tikay]

Booked the Norway tickets yet?

Did you know Adam Owen was 3rd in EPT Barcelona.  I think you were a fan.  I only found out yesterday.  Hard yo get fast news in this day and age it seems.

How did the new highroller go?  I was too knacked to play it.  I suspect it will never be as prestigious as the Monday £30 bounty hunter.  

Morning doobs.

I've been a bit shy in doing the Diary, after reading Plinop's exploits in WCOOP for 6 figure sums, & Lil Dave's tales of derring-do & fish & chips, but being as you ask......I'll start with young Adam.

Adam Owen - no, I had not realised that. My oh my, that boy has some future in poker, & I love him to bits. Articulate, affable, warm & friendly, plays with a smile on his face. He was kind enough to spend a little time to help me with my all-too pedestrian game, & I was immensely grateful that he took the time so to do.

He had 9 cashes in the WSOP this year in eight different formats, which takes some doing. Nothing big, as he tends to be very very aggro, & he just kept losing crucial flips when deep.

Now he scoops the fat end of three quarters of a million $$$'s in a NLH event. The boy has real game, & might just be the best poker player in Folkestone.

Here's a typical Adam image - the boy smiles so readily. I like that & I'm deffo a fanboy of the lad. 

[tikay]

Booked the Norway tickets yet?

Did you know Adam Owen was 3rd in EPT Barcelona.  I think you were a fan.  I only found out yesterday.  Hard yo get fast news in this day and age it seems.

How did the new highroller go?  I was too knacked to play it.  I suspect it will never be as prestigious as the Monday £30 bounty hunter.  

Norway is booked, yes. We can only manage 3 days, but it'll be just great, & we are both very excited. Flights, trains, boat, hotel, all booked.

On Saturday, with Gill down for the weekend, we went up to Thomas Exchange Global in Victoria to get our Kroners.

Roughly speaking, 500 Norwegian Kroner = £50 quid, so it's nice & easy to know what stuff costs.  

Anyone know who the images on the banknotes are? - I've no idea. Best go to Mr google I guess. Was rather hoping it might be that chess bloke, Magnus Carlson. Don't think it is.

[tikay]

Gill came down at the weekend for a belated birthday "celebration". It was a week late, but I kinda like to be alone on my birthday, to sort of reflect on what's what in my life. Gill is incredibly understanding of these ridiculous character traits I have & never quibbles or gets a curly lip with me. She's an absolute treasure.

We went to Victoria Station to get the Kroners, & spent an hour looking around. We like stations, such exciting places to see folks going hither & thither to all parts. Then we went to Waterloo & did the same thing. Gill wanted to go shopping in Kingston next, so we took separate trains, me to Hampton Court, she to Kingston, then I drove across to Kingston a few hours later to pick her up. We went past Bushy Park, & the deer were grazing right by the road. How lovely.

All in all, we used 6 different trains & spent time at 4 stations.

We had planned to go to Heathrow later, to suss out the T5 parking & do a bit of plane-spotting - we fly to Norway from T5 -  but too much excitement in one day will spoil her, so we'll do that next weekend.    

Pardon my chest thumping, but she's lucky to have a man who treats her so splendidly & takes her to see such fascinating sights.

What memories of childhood trainspotting evokes, I was never happier than when I had my little Ian Allen Railway Train spotters book.

 

[tikay]

We went across on the Tube - more trains, see? - to Holland Park, as Gill wanted to buy some shite from the American Food Store.

She wants to do us a Thanksgiving Dinner - we both loves all things America - so I took her to this weirdo shop & she set fire to about £80 worth of mixed shite, which will serve as the accessories to our Thanksgiving dinner.

It's a little awkward right now as we both struggle with our weight & are currently hard-dieting, but we will go for it proper on Thanksgiving, with turkey, roasties & all the gubbins. 

In the unlikely event anyone ever wants to buy any weirdo USA food, this shop in Ladbroke Grove has the lot. It's run by a bloke from Bangladesh, obv.

[tikay]

When I was a kid, Holland Park was almost a slum, with the racketeer Peter Rachman owning much of the property & exploiting the tenants something shocking.

I've not been to Holland Park since, so Saturday was a bit of a shock, it's proper posh now, & those grand old houses go for millions.

A 5 bed maisonette in nearby Duchess of Bedford Walk will set you back £26 million (not a typo), & a flat in Holland Park Mews comes in at around £6 mill minimum.

It's staggering, & I am fascinated who owns them & where such wealth comes from.

Oligarchs & the like I suppose.

Guess the most famous local resident is Robbie Williams - class act, see? - who purchased Woodland House from the late Michael Winner for about £20 milly. Loose change to Robbie.  

Led Zep's Jimmy Page lives next door, or nearly so, & the 2 of them are having a legal tiff over modernising their little homes.

I spent all my life rushing around & not noticing these things, & it pisses me off a bit that only now do I seem to appreciate them.

Anyway, this is Robbie's place, showing what you can get for £20 milly if you have an eye for a bargain.  

 

 

[tikay]

The local shops are amazeballs.

What with the diet, I can't eat proper food right now, but on my birthday I went into Tesco & fondled a great big pork pie. I knew I could not buy it, but it was a sort of treat. Can't beat a pork pie, full of goodness.

A week later, with Gill in Holland Park, we found a place called Lidgate Butchers. It was just wonderful, & though we had no intention of buying 'owt, we went inside & had a drool. A little individual steak & kidney pie sets you back £8.75. Bet it's bloody lovely though. One day.....

 

[RED-DOG]

£8.75 for a steak and kidney pie? Jebus Christ! For that price I'd want it rolling on a virgin's thigh before I ate it, and I'd want to do the rolling.

[RED-DOG]

How come people like Robbie don't buy their houses somewhere like Cheadle? They would get a much better place for their money and have enough left over for one of those pies every other week.

[tikay]

Booked the Norway tickets yet?

Did you know Adam Owen was 3rd in EPT Barcelona.  I think you were a fan.  I only found out yesterday.  Hard yo get fast news in this day and age it seems.

How did the new highroller go?  I was too knacked to play it.  I suspect it will never be as prestigious as the Monday £30 bounty hunter.  

Pretty well, I'd say.

For those few who do not follow what happens Next Door, a new MTT schedule is about to be introduced, & last night they rolled out the first new MTT - the £220 Sky High Roller. It had an £8,000 Guarantee, with a £220 entry, so needed 40 runners.  I'm guessing there is barely a single WCOOP event with a Guarantee so small, but hey, each to their own, this is what we do, & I have no embarrassment about the relative sizes.  

The word from the player base was we would not have the liquidity or traffic to support this on a Tuesday, but Sky Poker ain't as daft as some think & we were confident of getting close. They did a lot of Comms, & I did a lot of profile raising noise, & I gave away about £400 worth of free seats to the event & satellites in a Free to Enter Fun Forum Comp, which got 135 entries, but more importantly, it made a lot of noise & raised awareness.

With a good satellite tree, we were confident of around 50 runners. It got......76, so it beat the Guarantee by 90%. oioi  

It's a bit ridic that at my age I still get excited by work stuff, but I just do.

So I railed the entire event, & finished my poker session early to do so, staying up & taking notes & railing the players - most of whom I know of course -  until it ended at 0130. There was not a bit of bad blood on the rail all Tourney, either, none of this "you are a fish" nonsense. What a dreadful way that is to describe lesser players.  

Then I got up at 0530 & wrote a 1,000 word Blog to capitalise on the moment, & I sent the Blog to the office before 0900 this morning.  

So all in all, yeah, went pretty well. And here's the thing. I'm just the water carrier Next Door, & a lowly one at that, but I like to pay my way & do every last little thing I can to help with these things. And I love it. And this morning I'm bursting with pride at a job well done by all involved, including yours truly.

My contract got renewed last month, but, as per usual, just 6 months. I was summoned up to Leeds last week, & I get a bit paranoid that Leeds visits are going to be "Well Tony, it's been nice working with you, but...." affairs. A few of recent my e-Mails did not get replies, & I was seeing suspicious trends that were not really there. I sent some stuff up which got totally ignored, too, so that added to my mental discomfort. I don't mind them saying "gg Tony", after all I'm getting on a bit, but it's the uncertainty that nags away at the mind. And, I suppose, ego.  

As it turned out, I had a great day, was given time by all the SS, even got taken to dinner - or is iust lunch? - by one VSS.

I also got introduced in embarrassingly nice fashion to a VVSS by a VVVSS, & I had a coffee & a private meet with Sam, my immediate Line Manager, who is a VLS.

So I came home on the train happy as Larry.

I've been invited back up to Leeds tomorrow for another Meet with some outside people & some VSS's, so that's good, too. Or maybe it's just a bluff & the Dear Tony speech is gonna be rolled out?

No matter, it'll be what it'll be, & I get to go on a Big Train again. How good is life?    

[tikay]

How come people like Robbie don't buy their houses somewhere like Cheadle? They would get a much better place for their money and have enough left over for one of those pies every other week.

Wants to live near The Queen, I guess. Cheadle is not exactly where it all happens, is it?

I often fantasise about coming into serious money, enough to buy any house, any where, just Gill & me.

Pretty sure I'd buy two, one in America & we'd spend 6 months of the year over there, just driving State to State, & doing Amtrak trips, then a little cottage in the English countryside - or West Highlands of Scotland -  with a bit of land where we could keep ducks, horses, a goat or two, & some chickens. Gill talks to animal like a little girl - "hello horsey, here, have a carrot" sort of thing. Sounds daft, & I suppose it is, but I adore her for it.   

It's good to dream, don't you think?

Anyway, blame Doobs for all that waffle, he did ask. 

[Karabiner]

You'll have to give us a glossary if we're to understand all of those acronyms.

[tikay]

You'll have to give us a glossary if we're to understand all of those acronyms.

Sorry Ralph, trade terms, see?

SS - Serious Suit

VVSS - Very Very Serious Suit (Board Member)

VVVSS - Very Very Very Serious Suit (Head of Gaming)

VLS - Very Little Suit (ill-dressed bloke from Leeds).

[Doobs]

You'll have to give us a glossary if we're to understand all of those acronyms.

SS senior suit?
VVSS very very senior suit?

well done on the comp Tikay.

edit, was only joking too

[booder]

Booked the Norway tickets yet?

Did you know Adam Owen was 3rd in EPT Barcelona.  I think you were a fan.  I only found out yesterday.  Hard yo get fast news in this day and age it seems.

How did the new highroller go?  I was too knacked to play it.  I suspect it will never be as prestigious as the Monday £30 bounty hunter.  

Pretty well, I'd say.

For those few who do not follow what happens Next Door, a new MTT schedule is about to be introduced, & last night they rolled out the first new MTT - the £220 Sky High Roller. It had an £8,000 Guarantee, with a £220 entry, so needed 40 runners.  I'm guessing there is barely a single WCOOP event with a Guarantee so small, but hey, each to their own, this is what we do, & I have no embarrassment about the relative sizes.  

The word from the player base was we would not have the liquidity or traffic to support this on a Tuesday, but Sky Poker ain't as daft as some think & we were confident of getting close. They did a lot of Comms, & I did a lot of profile raising noise, & I gave away about £400 worth of free seats to the event & satellites in a Free to Enter Fun Forum Comp, which got 135 entries, but more importantly, it made a lot of noise & raised awareness.

With a good satellite tree, we were confident of around 50 runners. It got......76, so it beat the Guarantee by 90%. oioi  

It's a bit ridic that at my age I still get excited by work stuff, but I just do.

So I railed the entire event, & finished my poker session early to do so, staying up & taking notes & railing the players - most of whom I know of course -  until it ended at 0130. There was not a bit of bad blood on the rail all Tourney, either, none of this "you are a fish" nonsense. What a dreadful way that is to describe lesser players.  

Then I got up at 0530 & wrote a 1,000 word Blog to capitalise on the moment, & I sent the Blog to the office before 0900 this morning.  

So all in all, yeah, went pretty well. And here's the thing. I'm just the water carrier Next Door, & a lowly one at that, but I like to pay my way & do every last little thing I can to help with these things. And I love it. And this morning I'm bursting with pride at a job well done by all involved, including yours truly.

My contract got renewed last month, but, as per usual, just 6 months. I was summoned up to Leeds last week, & I get a bit paranoid that Leeds visits are going to be "Well Tony, it's been nice working with you, but...." affairs. A few of recent my e-Mails did not get replies, & I was seeing suspicious trends that were not really there. I sent some stuff up which got totally ignored, too, so that added to my mental discomfort. I don't mind them saying "gg Tony", after all I'm getting on a bit, but it's the uncertainty that nags away at the mind. And, I suppose, ego.  

As it turned out, I had a great day, was given time by all the SS, even got taken to dinner - or is iust lunch? - by one VSS.

I also got introduced in embarrassingly nice fashion to a VVSS by a VVVSS, & I had a coffee & a private meet with Sam, my immediate Line Manager, who is a VLS.

So I came home on the train happy as Larry.

I've been invited back up to Leeds tomorrow for another Meet with some outside people & some VSS's, so that's good, too. Or maybe it's just a bluff & the Dear Tony speech is gonna be rolled out?

No matter, it'll be what it'll be, & I get to go on a Big Train again. How good is life?    

I must have missed that thread.