Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[tikay]

Loving the write ups Tikay, just make sure your enjoying yourself, most of us invested to live the dream through your diary (of course winning money would be nice), maybe u and Pleno could help each other out, your bust out mindset and his gameplay, probably be the ultimate fighting machine, Tleno we could call you.

Not sure that would ever work, Ommy. Nice idea though, a sort of two-headed monster.

Swerve the question if it is awkward, but how is your health now?

[tikay]

stick in tony, and don't feel the weight of the stakers no one was forced to put money in and im sure everyone who did feels the same way. no pressure at all, just play your A game and enjoy it. It was me on the flying dagg thread next door the other day. I used to play in TPT and met dagg at spts, very sad

Thought as much, by the style of writing. Writing style is like a fingerprint, though the name was a clue, too.

I actually have a theory that we should all use our own names - our real names - when Online, be it on Forums or Poker Sites. Would really bring an end to so much of the mischief & nonsense we see so much of.

The Daggy thing is incredibly sad. One moment he was fine, next thing, he appears to have no realistic hope of surviving. It's utterly dreadful.

I don't recall a time when so many people I know are very unwell. 

[tikay]

Are you doing sky poker daily vegas blogs this year?  You usually post a link on here for them but have i missed them?  Always a good read.

Apologies for the delayed reply.

Sort of, yes.

For the first 10 or 12 days, I was officially on holiday from work, & wanted to pay special attention to non-poker matters.

Now I'm sort of 50-50 playing poker & blogging.

In about a week, I shall start working every day, as Sky Poker TV arrive, as do no less than 35 Qualifiers from Next Door. (30 for the Little Drop, & 5 for the Main). Amazing how big that site is growing - 35 Vegas qualifiers, who'd have thought? So from around the 27th, I'll blog daily I expect. Until then, slightly less.

There has been a further complication, & its a bit hard to explain. I used to be able to Upload my own Blogs, on the so-called "Official Sky Poker Blog", which is here.....

https://www.skypoker.com/secure/poker/sky_lobby?action=show_static&page=poker_community_blog&plckController=Blog&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest&plckBlogId=Blog:984622ff-5ae6-4357-a087-da942593ca53&plckBlogPage=Blog&plckCurrentPage=0&sid=community.skypoker.com



(How about that for a snappy little link?).

I've got over 400 Blogs on there, most of them from Vegas down the years. I uploaded them myself, & was permitted to use generic photos from google Images & the like.

Unfortunately, that part of the site has no SEO, so it has limited reach, & is only really seen by captive Clients, so it has limited commercial value.

Now, that's all changed - they have a "Latest News" section which does have good SEO, & therefore has much greater reach & value. But I don't have the ability, or am not allowed (not sure which) to upload them myself, I have to submit them to the Office & they, if & when they feel inclined, Upload them. I can't use generic images from google Images either, they don't allow me to, even though I am of the view that a generic photo of, say, Encore or Wynn is hardly likely to get us in any bother. And of course a blog without photos is very much the poorer, photos are - imo - very very important in making a blog (or a Forum Post) readable.

I also have to try & work in plenty of keywords, though that's not really a problem.

So, one way & another, I've lost control of my Blogs, & to be honest, it has disincentivised me a bit. Some I have sent up have not been uploaded, which, I admit, disappointed & annoyed me a little. Spoilt boy, me, used to getting my own way, see?

Anyway, here's a few from this trip. If I can rediscover my blogging gusto, I'll be doing them daily, as I do enjoy writing, even though some of my stuff is a bit left-field. A 100% poker Blog from me you ain't ever gonna see, it needs more width imo.

https://www.skypoker.com/secure/poker/sky_lobby/poker-news/wsop-chatter

https://www.skypoker.com/secure/poker/sky_lobby/poker-news/jottings-from-the-wsop-in-las-vegas


https://www.skypoker.com/secure/poker/sky_lobby/poker-news/john-gale-wins-second-wsop-bracelet

[tikay]

This was the first Blog I sent from Vegas this year, but it did not survive the vetting process apparently, as it never got published. To be fair, it was a bit poo. I took my own photos for it, but it's a bit tiresome to resurrect them at this point in tine.


WSOP 2015 begins with a bang

Friday May 29th, Las Vegas

Unbelievable scenes at the World Series of Poker, as the $565 Colossus got under way here today, & the Rio was absolutely heaving.

2 Flights today, both of which have 3 waves, with 2 more flights & Lord knows how many waves tomorrow.  Flights, waves, what’s going off?

Colossus is a game-changer, so they have had to be creative in finding ways to seat everyone, so flights & waves it is.

Latest estimate of the field size?

Well I’ve spoken to half the WSOP suits, & they feel confident of 20,000+. That’s just stunning, 20,000 runners seated over 2 days? A big well done to all the WSOP team.

Plenty of faces playing it, too, I spotted these WSOP Main Event winners as I wandered the tables this afternoon, Scotty Nguyen (1998), Greg Raymer (2004) & Jamie Gold (2006).

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The place is rammed, they have set up rooms everywhere to accommodate the huge field, this, amazingly, is the WSOP Poker Kitchen, suitably converted…..

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Meanwhile, the 1,500 USD Omaha 8 or Better is in the late stages, & includes Erik Seidel & Allyn Shulman

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Even the Media Centre, usually deserted at this early stage, has a sprinkling of journos.

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Meanwhile, the 5,000 USD NLH had reached the Final Table, too. Quite a table it was, too, but a little cringeworthy to hear no less than 4 journos describe it identically……“sick final table bro”

Groan. Come on lads, you can do better than that.

The WSOP 2015 runs until July 14th, (plus the famous November Nine), and Sky Poker are sending no less than 35 qualifiers to live the dream. Sick package, bro……

Sky Poker TV will be here, too, from late June, as will Sky Poker Ambassador Neil Channing.

(Insert suitable Neil Channing Photo)

As for me, well I’ll be holidaying for a week, pokering for 3 weeks, & helping Sky Poker TV for a week, as well as sending occasional blogs back home. Sick life, bro……

More waffle from the Las Vegas & the WSOP 2015 soon.

[tikay]

So, back to the holiday. I wrote about Sunday & Monday, which were huge fun, but Tuesday was to turn into something quite magical, including one of the most thrilling hours of my entire life.

Don't be getting carried away though, it was just the wildlife we saw - we are both wildlife nuts. My young Lady had the great fortune to see a whale recently, up close, in real life, & she burst into tears at the sight. I think I might have done the same. That's just how we both are, mad about nature, animals, trees, that sort of stuff. And we had a very special day indeed. 

[tikay]

Tuesday began with the buffet brekkie @ Gold Coast. It costs $7.99, "all you can eat", & is great value. We walked there, all the way & back.

Next, we picked up the car & headed to Mt Charlston, which is very special for us, as it has great memories for us. Sod's Law being what it is, I forgot to take my camera, so with a few exceptions, all the photos are from google images. Fortunately, we visited Mt C twice more, this time with camera, & I got a few photos. They'll have to wait though.

Mt Charlston is just 30 kilometres from The Strip, in Las Vegas, but it is high up, & the weather is 30f cooler there, & the air much crisper. It's one of the most enchanting drives you can imagine, as you slowly climb to 8,000 feet. At the bottom, just ugly desert & scrub, & at the top, it's like the Highlands of Scotland.

There are no trees in Las Vegas, either (except "landscaped" decorative trees), but Mt C is a veritable forest, mainly populated by bristlecone pines. They are magnificent trees, very straight & upright, & many are said to be over 1,000 years old. It's a bit odd that, because I am familiar with something known as "the Tree Line", which, in Europe, works the other way round - trees grow only up to a certain altitude, & then thy cease. That's the tree line. In Mt C, it's the opposite - the trees only start as you gain altitude.

The area is known as "the Galapagos of the Sky" due to the amazing variety of wildlife & plants up there.

After turning off I-96, in the Las Vegas Valley, onto Kyle Canyon Road, as you can see, it's not exactly pretty......

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

As Kyle Canyon Road starts to climb, gradually trees & shrubs start to appear.

These, I think, are called charcoal trees.




Within 15 minutes, after climbing steadily, around 1,000 feet every 2 miles, suddenly, the landscape is looking a little different, almost Alpine-like. And yes, that's snow on the mountain tops.

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We saw plenty of these - they are called "Roadrunners" I believe. They live on lizards & the like. Never saw one fly, they just seem to scamper along the ground.

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[tikay]

Soon, we passed this place., Mt Charlston Resort, not to be confused with Mt Charlaston Lodge.

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Then this stunningly isolated & beautiful place, Mt Charlston Baptist Church.

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Then the little Fire Station, (forest fires are common up here)......

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[tikay]

....and, at last, Mt Charlston Lodge hoves into view, with it's little log cabins (for rent) & views across the valleys & mountainside.

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[tikay]

Dinner is eaten outside - it's hard to imagine a more beautiful spot to dine, in the crisp mountain air, with these stunning views.

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[tikay]

Cheers.

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Dinner for me? Fish & chips, can't beat it.

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[tikay]

And then something astonishing happened.

Hung from the gutters externally, are a series of little bird feeders.

And suddenly, hearing a strange whirring noise, we looked up to see.......humming birds. Humming birds, what? I thought they were just in tropical forests - but there were loads of them.

You might think "so what", but to see humming birds - dozens of them - in the wild, was just an amazing thrill.

Gill managed to get 2 photos. Not great photos, but the memory will live forever.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

A quick search of You Tube showed how common the sight is at Mt Charlston Lodge. Please watch this video, it is only 55 seconds or so.







I never thought I'd see humming birds in the wild - what a thrill, what a memory.

[tikay]

A wonderful meal, with someone very special to me, with those views, in the crisp cool air, & seeing humming birds - we never thought such a thing would happen, & eventually, as the sun dipped beneath the top of the snow topped mountains, & it started to get cooler, we drove away, as happy as larry.

We had rented a car, a convertible, so we put the roof down, & started the lovely drive back down to the parched valley below.   

I drove slowly, just 10 or 15 mph, just absorbing all that beauty, & suddenly spotted something scurry across the road, right in front of us.

Following it's path to the edge of the road, there, smack alongside the car, was a colony of "Palmers Chipmunks" scurrying around in the rocky outcrops.

This species of chipmunk does not exist anywhere else on earth except Spring Mountains, which is where Mt Charlston sits.

They are very small - about the size of a hamster - & are exquisitely marked. Bit like a miniature squirrel I suppose.


http://www.ndow.org/Species/Furbearer/Palmer_s_Chipmunk/

 

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Look how small they are......

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I'm not at all sure all this belongs on a poker forum, but it was such a lovely moment, especially as we both love wildlife so much.

[tikay]

I had turned the engine off whilst we watched, open mouthed, almost gasping, at these little chipmunks.

But we were not done yet.

Something caught my eye about 100 yards ahead, & there, just standing there, in the middle of he deserted road, as the sun was fading, was a herd of (thank you google) mule deer.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mule_deer

These are quite small, not as big as regular deer, and there were 20 or 30 of them. We watched them until it was dark. They were nervous & skittish, & we even saw two of them doing that jousting thing with their antler things. 

 

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All of that - the roadrunners, the humming birds, Palmers Chipmunk, & Mule Deer, was within an hour.

If I've ever enjoyed an hour more than that, I don't recall it. What a thrill, what a stroke of luck to be right time, right place, & right company.

[tikay]

All of that was just 30 kilometres, maybe 35 minutes in the car, from Las Vegas.

Who'd have thought such beauty & wildlife existed so close to Vegas?

This view is from our hotel room, incidentally.

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