blonde poker forum

Sat in the bar of the Marriot Monday morning with one of the mods, and they ask me if I'm going to do one of my journalistic reports on the weekend.  Being as my journalistic skills stretch as far as writing weekly Table Tennis reports for the local paper I hadn't really thought about it so I said no.  But the mod asked me to, don't know whether they meant it or not but on the journey home I decided it would be a cool thing to do just to share my experience of the weekend.

I realised that I had so much to say that it would go on forever so I'm going to have to break it down into parts.

And I guess I ought to start at the beginning.... 

Pre Bash

It all started at the November Cheesy game.  Heid asked me if I was going to the Blonde Bash and I told her I'd probably leave it.  I didn't feel I contributed much to the forum and I'd only be going to lose my money. 

Then I got a bit more involved and realised that it wasn't about the money, this was going to be more like loads of people meeting for the first time but also playing poker.  SO I kept up to date with the posts etc and eventually put my name down.  I planned to drive up from Wycombe spend some time at the bash get knocked out and drive back. 

A few weeks before the event and I found out The Woo had put her name down to come.  I've know her for a while so asked if she needed a lift and she suggested we share a room.  It seemed like a plan, I like to have the odd drink especially when meeting new people, it settles me down a bit, and this would work out quite well.

Then it all kicked off with a bout a week left. 

I went to the doctors who advised me to take some time off the booze as they thought I'd over indulged over Christmas and needed to give my body a rest.  It was only as I left that I realised this meant a non-boozey Bash.  Not good.

Then the Woo couldn't get the time off work but that was OK as Londonpokergirl was going to share with us, so it was back down to two.  I'd onlly met LPG once so wasn't sure how she'd feel about sharing a room with a virtual stranger who she'd only ever seen smashed(noticing a trend?)

Spoke to Mel and everything was fine. 

Get a text from LPG at 1:40 the morning of the bash.  "We need to book another room, I'm sharing with someone else but it's ok I've found someone for you to share with"  Ok no problem I think that's fine.

Book the room no problem everything seems fine.

Leave Wycombe half one, leaving the M42 onto the M6 and LPG calls again.  "Don't worry about your room mines massive we'll all fit in here and it's normal price!"

Bargain, cheap room. 

Get to the hotel sneak to the room which is awesome for a little travelled guy like myself, the Plasma screen was particularly attractive.  Meet PokerDave69 who seems to have the same sort of poker experience as me.  Excellent.

Mel asks if I want a drink I say I can't doctors advice.  She tells me to sod the doctor start drinking, so I'm on the Vodka Redbull. 

Dave suggests a trip to the bar, I'd heard Heid was down there and I wanted to see her again so I was up for it. 

We left the room and made our way downstairs.

Little did I know what the night had a head for me....

I bet it did!

odd drink?!  ::) ::) ::)

23, 25, 27.......................

odd drink!!

LMAO! When's the next chapter?! This is funny!

My apologies, finding the time to write it between cubs, pool team and firends wanting to catch up is not easy.  Especially as I spent an hour typing one bit up and the story hadn't even reached me leaving the bar before the tourney!!  Realised it was too long so scrapped it!!  Was hoping it would fade away and no-one would notice but being as Poppets the second person to ask I better pull my finger out!!

It will come and I hope you enjoy it.

Got in the bar to find no-one there so we sat down anyway and got a round in.  £15.45 for three drinks!!! Jaysus!!!!!!!!!!!  Me and Dave looked at each other trying to figure out how much Mels double vodka and red bull (the first of many) cost.  £9!!  For one drink.  Nightmare.

Sat there for a wahile when a guy walks in saying he heard talk of A K from the corridor and knew he'd found his first Blondeites.  And that was how we met Indestructable.  A very cold Cupcake then made his entrance.  Having ridden all the way up from London all the poor lad wanted was a hot drink!  Each new person to the bar was greeted with a "Are you a Blondeite?" from Mel which got her some very strange looks.  There may have been one or two more Blondes come in but if there was my memry does not recall their names. 

Chubbs and the Yongsta make their Entrance.
The gentle hum of conversation was broken by two very loud Northern Accents and I turn to see two complete strangers walk in that everyone else knew.  "SIMON!!!!" was all I could hear as Mel saw them both come in.  I quickly realised this was Simon Nowab and Rob Yong.  I do tend to get a bit starstruck and recognised Simon as a "name" and Rob as someone who's posts I had read with great interest on the forum.  THings carried on and to be honest I was a little put off by Simon.  There was plenty of banter flying and I felt that he was directing some of it at me unecessarily.  I realised I was wrong when Flushy walked in, it was clear most people knew him and Chubbs redirected  things towards him, much to my relief.  It was a few minutes later and I must have said something as SImon told me he was only messing around and to ignore him.  That meant a lot to me and immediately put me back at ease.

I then got a few drinks in a misinterpreted Robs request for a Vodka Slimline tonic into a Vodka Lemon and Lime which he preceeded to spit out.  Jen and her mum then walked in and we made our way (late) to  the casino....

i wouldnt worry about him, when we hit the Clubs in brumm after the casino, he gave me dogs abuse all night....wait...maybe he was trying to tell me something!

Superb posts Mr F, my memory is going  ;tk; and good to have someone to remind us of events over the weekend. With a memory like that you can be in my quiz team next time around!

Got to the casino and registerd.  My first memory is of the girl on reception getting the bloke next to me to move his scarf down, he kept moving it but she kept asking, very strange I thought.  Hear a shout of "Bracken" from my left which can only mean one thing.  My mates from Scouts went through a period of calling me this when I was fourteen so I knew it must be Heid.  Got through the gate and got a massive hug which Heid is very good at.  Was good to see a friendly face straight away. 

Still a bag of nerves went over to the bar and got a drink had a fag and it was pretty much time for the comp.  Took my place on table eleven before most.  Had Rooky9 to my right and the guy with the scarf sat down to my left he turned out to be DaMatrix.  My apologies now to the guys next to him as I kept shifting my rather sizeable backside out from the table and getting them to move closer to the table.  Came back just in time for the start and noticed that Blonde Legend Mr Red Dog was also at the table.  As has been said beffore by both Rooky9 and Damatrix, the table was very tight to start.  To be honest I was more interested in trying to see what the tattoo was on the dealers right (insert prefered euphemism for breast here.  I'm too polite to call it a Charmaine as has been suggested in other posts!) First thing I noticed was the cheers as Tikay exited stage right.  It wasn't too long before the table was broken, at this point my memory becomes a little blurred, I'm not too sure why but I'm sure if you ask Snoops or No Flops they'll fill you.  I moved onto the new table to find Poker Dave69 LPG Rooky9 again and the ever-quiet Rob Yong...

My lunch hour is over now so more later, I hope to have the whole thing finished by the weekend cos I know it's dragging on, so my apologies.

Keep going Mr F so far so good

Its still making me L.O.L so keep it up!! :D

yep come on fearnybaby ;)

No need to apologise.

Impressions

It’s interesting how you build up images of people from their forum persona.  You see the way they write and you think you know who they are.  Well that all changed for me when I reached the table.  Rob Yong’s WSOP diary was one of the posts that got me seriously interested in Blonde.  I took every opportunity at work to catch up with what he’d been up to.  I fully expected him to be a quiet kind of guy. I know it’s got a lot to do with table image but this guy I was sat to my left seemed to me to be a completely different person.  Loud and confrontational, but also very funny.  I had seen aspects of this in the bar but again it took me by surprise.  Every hand deserved a comment from Rob and normally got one!  He seemed to take exception to Rooky9 but again this just seemed to be a table image thing. 

Things were going OK for me as I tried to stay out of trouble until the hand that crippled me and the hand in which I saw another side of Rob.  I’m not great at writing about hands but here we go:
I looked down and found A Q in mid position (I think) I raised and Rob thought for a while before passing.  A guy after him went all in, I had him covered but not by much.  I thought, as Rob looked at my cards, then I thought some more, three times he told me to pass.  I thought some more, I’m not having a go but something in me didn’t feel right about passing, so I called.  I turned over my cards as the other guy revealed his pocket kings.    No help from the board and I was in major trouble.  Rob turned to me and explained to me where I’d gone wrong and why he told me to pass.  He reasoned that I should have been looking round the table and watching the other players, noticed how long he’d taken and figured him for an ace.  This may seem like basic stuff to some people but to me it was an eye opener and I’m very grateful to Rob for taking the time to show me where I’d gone wrong.  Another reason I’m a Blonde.  I stayed in a bit longer, doubled up but alas it wasn’t to be and I went out, much to the relief I’m sure of Action Jack and Aces!!!  Each time I was in Rob was rooting for me and really encouraging me, another point for Mr Yong.

After this is where the night really started for me….

 :hello:

My pocket kings....

To be fair Rob could have had any two cards at any time but the theory on a normal player would be right... I wish you hadnt of had a hand, and made the raise, I know i would have doubled through off him at that point if you hadn't - it was exactly the situation I was hoping for when talking back to him!

Can you remember much detail after this point?!

 :goodpost:

This is the where the thread becomes "audience participation". As with most good acts there is always a part of the show where the host asks the audience to join in a little, and as this thread is both good and popular we are invited to do the same.

As Mr. F's recollection of events may get a bit "hazy" from this point on he will begin by telling a story from the latter part of the night - all you have to do as the audience is fill in some of the blanks - the best answers will receive prizes at BlondeBash II - Armaggedon night...... ;)

Waited about ten minutes for a drink to get to the table courtesy of Mr Yong (cheers Rob), and madde my way out of the card area for a fag.  Moved along the Roulette machines and bumped (probably literally the state I was in) into Nakor and Matt674 in the "losers enclosure".  Nakor was on my list pre bash of people I had to talk to as he'd railbirded me way back when.  And Matt is one of the enigma's of blonde so I'm glad I met him.  CHatted to them for a while and must have made an impression as they both mentioned afterwards how "tired and emotional" (I LOVE that expression) I was.  I thanked Nakor for railbriding me and asked Matt what the monkey thing was all about. 

Went to the bar and got another drink,  the next two people I met were AK God Ironside and the absolutely gorgeous Sarh London.  I've always been wary of Beautiful people, having never been one I find them distant arrogant and generally repulsive, something instilled in me from my bullied days in school I think.  SO I wasn't too sure about Sarah, I can only say that I was wrong, AGAIN!  What a lovely girl charming and warm throughout the weekend.  Just one problem, she doesn't like my glasses.  The three of us were chatting about a trip to the lapdancers which I was debating on.  I think Dan came along and told Ironside that he had to face a member of Irons team in the HU challenge.  He wasn't bothered about the stake.  I volunteered myseld if Iron wanted.  I can only apologise to Iron Dan and whoever dealt our match.  To Iron for losing, to Dan for the totally poor calibre of opponent and to the dealer for being wasted.  First audience participation needed, who was the mystery dealer as I have no clue.

Snnopy
I went up to see Snoppy and told him I wsa ready to help update.  I believe it is at this point I got included on the first and only drunk list, if not I'm suree he'll correct me.  I started wandering around trying to find out what I could and it seemed to be going quite well.  He kept making references to my state of mind which just made me laugh so I carried on. 

I like Snopyy, he's a good guy and very funny but will somebody PLEASE feed him.  I have a plan for him, it involves a romantic dinner for two with Kev over at least one pie if not more, followed by a sesh with me and the George (my local) boys, if you thinik I was drunk in Birmingham you ain't seen nothing yet, and when that's done I'll take him to one of the finest eateries in High Wycombe, Dennis's.  It's his choice if he wants to go to Dennis's shop where we can sit down surrounded by the fallout from the club next door, or Denis's van where we can be surrounded by the fallout from the 4 pubs nearby.

At some point around now was the break and food.  Will someone please tell me why I didn't have food?  More audience participation please.  I thought it was because I was updating, but Matt reminded me yesterday that they stopped the comp for food so if someone can enlighten me I would appreciate it. 

Right lunch is over again so that's you r lot for now.

Next time on My first Blonde Bash:

The end of the comp

Still to come on blonde bash:

Possibly the most controversial statement ever seen on Blond Poker.com
 

 rotflmfao rotflmfao rotflmfao

you mean i've been locked in a cupboard for 50 years and only just been discovered recently??


Nakor might have to correct me on this one but i dont ever remember using the phrase "tired and emotional", the one i seem to remember started with a "p" and ended with "$$ed"....  :D  :D  :D (especially as you were supposed to be on a "drink free weekend" ;))

But all joking aside as i said in another thread - it was an honour and a pleasure squire :)


Funnily enough Nakor and I had been talking earlier on in the night after Snoppy had come over and introduced himself, we recognised him immediately as soon as we saw his face but afterwards we both said that we had imagined him to be bigger than he was!!

maybe from now on the "post a picture of yourself" thread should only contain "whole" body shots  :D


Sorry cant help you on that one only narrow the field by one - as was once "sung" by shaggy, it wasn't me......


Sorry cant really help on this one either as i was too busy eating what was a delightful spread - the only downside being that there were no bananas on offer. Gatso however helped in this regard and rounded the evening of by providing me with two of fyffes finest - thank you sir  :)up

I did hear however that bar sales did increase quite rapidly of one certain drink during the 45 minute buffet break - what was it you were drinking again? ;)

I know you didn't use that phrase, I meant that it has been used a lot since the bash and I love it as a susbstitute for the P word.

I know squire, just pulling your leg. If you had been given a drink for every time you heard someone say that you were "tired and emotional"........... hang on i think thats how you got "tired and emotional" in the first place!! ;)

Sorry Rooky9 I didn't think it was you with the kings! 

He could have had any two cards but I was just trying to say that I appreciated him taking the time to point out to me where I went wrong.

As for detail some bits are still clear as day, whereas some I'm going to rely on the AP part!!

What's this controversial thing??
Stop being such a tease Bracken!

The comp restarted and I carried on with the updating.  The routine was basically run round the tables, grab the top two or three counts from each table (I think this was with three tables left), go back to the PC adn type in on a new post, have a fag get a drink if needed and repeat until one person is left.  Well almost.  That worked fine up until the final table.  All the players were extremely helpful, it must have been quite annoying to have the drunkest bloke in the building walk up to your table and demand chip counts.  So thanks to the people I remember from this period, not to name drop but they included Gabby, Paddyjim Gamblor21 Aces, Actionjack, Singsta and my new mate Pokerdave69 going strong.

No Flops Homer - An Apology

During this time I remember chatting for periods with sonppy and No Flops Homer. 

I CAN remember speaking to No Flops.  I CAN remember him being a really nice guy.  I have absolutely no memory of what he actually looks like such was my state of tired and emotionalness.  So Mr Flops I apologise.

We got to the final table and Dave was still there and comfortable from what I remember.  So I gave him a few words of encouragement and left him be.  There was a rope up around the table to stop the loiterers (that would be me)getting in the way too much.  Full amrks to the broadway staff here.  They went out of their way too make sure I knew what was going on so a massive thank you to them.  They also let me get in and around when necessary.  I was amazed how they could give me chip counts just by looking at the chips from a few metres away without touching them.  The final went well each person got an inerview on camera as they exited.  I managed to keep track of who was going out and putting as much detail on the thread.  A massive well done to Pokerdave who managed 4th a grea result for someone who'd only played four or five times live and a good advert for his poker teacher ;)
We all know who won but they both made the effort to get to the computer and post their thoughts which was great.  And that was the end of that comp and my updating.  I have to say the minute it was over I felt physically drained.  It's bbeen said before but that was one hell of a hard job to do,  I'd do it again in a second but at least next time I know what 've got in store for me.  Looking at the thread I worked it out that I did my first count at ten to eleven and he comp finished at ten to four.  It was hard work but I have to admit looking back I loved every second.

With the comp over the crowds dispersed and made their way home/to hotel rooms/ or like some of us to the Marriot bar.....

Next time:

Sit and gos and the unluckiest barman in the world.

Still to come:

That controversial statement.

Great post MR F not sure about the good advert for my teacher though as she aint given me any bloody lessons yet  :D although she would disagree coz she thinks talking me through hands online is classed as a lesson. Bloody women no offence ladies  :D

Love ya really babe. Thanks for all your help xx

Maybe you should change that woman then!!

Just realised that not once during this have I mentioned how many vodkas a certain person was getting through!!

lol  oi :)  I was happily railbirding Jens heads up match at the time v snoopy  , watching dave on the final and having lots more vodka and redbull ;) 

Hehe  and if it wasn't for me saying have a beer :)  we wouldn't have seen u get all sloppy with the ale  heheheheh

The Unluckiest bar man in the world.

So imagine the scenario, you're on the graveyard shift in your job at the Marriot manning the dead bar and whatever other tasks you have, taking it easy.  SUddenly hordes of pissed poker players walk in to set up games and extend their night for as long as possible.  The bar tally goes up but your peaceful shift just got buggered.  Although it was amusing to see this poor guy surrounded by people wanting drinks, he looked completely lost!

Sit and Go in the bar with three lovely people (and Rod Paradise and Big Sottish Dave)
I walked in and got as close as I could to the bar but couldn't be bothered cos there were soooo many people trying to get a drink. I think I met Dik9, at least I hope I did, I think I thanked him for all the work he'd done.  If I didn't at the time I'd just like to say now that I was gutted he couldn't attend and thought it was a travesty to be honest, but I gues thats the way the cookie crumbles.

 Poppet gathered a few of us around and we found a table to have a little six seater.  This would be my first encounter of the evening/morning with the following, Poppet7, Skippy Skip, Leon (poppets bloke) Rod Paradise and Big Scottish Dave.  THere was loads of action going on all around us with the heads up challenge carrying in the closing rounds and the mods starting their own sit and go.  Rob HM was besieged as the only source of chips and cards, poor bloke had been running his backside off in the casino only to get back to the hotel and have more people on his case!!

The sit and go was going nicely as the night continued...

Right, I'm back to work now but I want to say this before I go.

The next part of the diary is quite possibly one of the hardest htings I have ever had to write, harder even than the time I had to do a report on my teams 26 point loss in the final of our local table tennis cup.

It won't win me any friends on the forum and may well turn everyone against.  But throughout this I've tried to give my account of what happened on the weekend and so that is what I will do.  This will almost certainly get me a red card from some quarters.

AL I can do is be honest and let you form your own opinions.

So until tomorrow lunch time...

Sounds like the last installment is going to end up as a pay-per-view offering. Sky always do this, keep people intrigued til in the end everyone wants to watch then its "You can purchase this event for only £15.99 - visit sky box office channel xyz for further details".

ohhh what you cant leave the story hanging like this!!!!!

Welcome to the scrambler. Careful Mr F, careful.  :D

 ;ifm; ;ifm; ;ifm; ;ifm; should we start a book now on which two blondites Mr. F caught in the lift together  ;ifm; ;ifm; ;ifm; ;ifm; ;ifm; ;ifm; ;ifm; ;ifm;

Matt, you should be my marketing manager or something, you've come up with all the best ideas for this thread!

So if you want to see whats next please deposit $5 into my 'stars account and I will PM you  the next piece!! Ha Ha Lol

(only joking of course)

I would gladly be your marketing manager - and my costs are quite low compared to what my human counterparts would charge.

My fee for being your marketing manager would be $5 and 1 banana - so if you PM me the next piece and a banana we'll call it quits ;)

(not joking about the sending of the banana of course!)

i would kust like to point out the guy serving you your drinks in the marriot was the night receptionist not a bar i did warn him you guys were on your way and he said i better get my work done then but i still think you lot surprised him when you turned up

I'm eating as I'm reading these posts. I'm gonna shove some more tucker down me before I hit the sack.

Food, food, food.

... then some more food.

ps. great thread.  :)up

In that case don't bother, if your intention (or by product of) is to upset/piss people off then i for one do not want to hear it.
If you wanna tell tales then do it in your local, or just change the name of the thread to LAST blonde bash.

Your glass is always half empty IFM :P

Don't understand that mrs?

You naturally think the worst of things :)

Don't judge until you know what is what.

Well seeing as he has stated that he will upset people it's hard to imagine it's gonna be pleasant.

I dare ya to wait wih an open mind :)

ok, i have nothing to hide and he has told us his locale and local :D

come on You FFFFFFF?

If he tries to say that he saw me eating a salad then i will sue !!!

my 2 cents are on Red-Dog and Scottish Dave

Hey if i want to pat the Dog, then thats between us ok!

 
I don't think Flushy is a fish

There you  go, I've said it now.  Flame me, berate me, ignore me, do what you like but it's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.

I read alot of the stuff he posts and genereally think he has a lot of good stuff to say which is why I was mortified when Scottish Dave reminded of something that happened during our little sit and go.

We were happily playing our game and being about 5 in the morning I was starting to fade.  I think I was starting to rest my eyes and head inbetween hands until this happened:

Quite happily resting my head on the table I hear someone going through my chips, like a lion on it's prey my head shot up out of my slumber to see Flushy about to call with my chips. 
"What you doing?"  I wasn't happy and may have been a little agressive

"You're getting 7 to 1 to call" Trying to HELP the drunk

"******* off, I'm not calling with those rags"   2s 6c off is not playable in my books, and to be honest I'm still trying to get my head around odds and things.

So I folded, and the flop comes down.....



 2c  2d 3s or  7h  (depending on which of Dave's account of the tale you believe) cue a very smug look from Flushy and a very irritated Mr F.

The hand played out, I have no idea who won, but all anyone wanted to know was what my hand was, cue laughter all round. 

So Flushy I'm sorry I shouted at you, it's not in my nature to be like that, but lets be fair you did have the last laugh!!

We played two sngs and I came second in one of them despitehaving a huge chip lead and pis**** it away.

Time was ticking on now and the hordes were scattering.  A bunch of us made it through to 7am and invaded the restaurant to have our English brekkies, eggs benedict and for Dave the American Scottish, eggs bacon pancakes maple syrup and a bottle of Stella. Those who weren't staying had their food and snuck out, some much more skillfully than others.  I believe Poppet7 made it out unscathed as did Skippy but the Scots boys attempt was found out by the waitress who grabbed them before they could get out, in a panic they just told her they were in Ironside room 504.  But Skippy had the getaway cab waiting so they did get out in the end.

Most people piled back into the bar for one last fag before bed. Kev had pulled so made his way up to his room with his "acquaintance"  ;scarymoment; and the rest of us made our way, mostly unaccompanied, to our rooms....

lol very nice Mr F

not sure if it was a 3 or a 7 but it was an irrelevant Rag anyway. the story was based around the 7-1 odds and the flopping the trips lol Thats got the table spirits back up again after almost 12 hours of poker!

as for my breakfast what the hell is wrong with having my first bottle of Stella on the plane at 7:30am on the SATURDAY, and having my last bottle of the session at breakfast at 7:30am on the SUNDAY (thats only 24hrs drinking lol)

i did then go home for 2 hours sleep before getting up at 11 for the celtic game and the start of my sunday drinking session! (this time it was only 12 noon till 6am, 18 hrs) was taking it easy on the sunday

Don't worry there's plenty about the Celtic game in Sundays diary!! :D

hey you, just remember where your bread is buttered!

Or how your head gets battered!!!  >:(





 ;)

this is something the scots are famous for, Patman would be so proud of me!

thats outrageous and i wont stand for such statements on blonde ;yellowcard;

ok boys come clean and admit who kiv pulled or i will have to out the pair of them (yeah that means you jim carry)

Patience Ironside, patience.  Sunday morning's installment comes tomorrow.

I only stole a croissant! The waitress did stop us and asked if we were staying at the Marriott, we just said 'no', when she asked about the rest of you we just said 'we're not sure' and walked out!

I must've been too tired because I don't remember that hand that was mentioned... most of the time I was the one dealing, and Dave was the one sorting the chips...wasn't really paying much attention to what was happening, I was tired and hungry - I hadn't eaten since the friday night!

Poppet  x

I know. I know.

Clue - likes animals

they would have to like animals to want to sleep in the same room as me :D


Ps. I dont want to spoil Mr F's revelation, but my "victim" makes a lovely cup of tea, and doesnt snore ;)

Though hogs the hair gel :D

well to be fair, i dont need it :)

By the way he forgot his gel, have you seen that film...Theres something about mary ?? :D

rotflmfao

lol  i know who u mean now :)   

That's alright dude. :D

Has the diary dried up then  :(

Not exactly Big Man.  Being as you like diaries here's a quick guide to my last few days.  Thursday out at pool dished out a beating to flashy kid in singles then fluffeda shot at teh end of a six ball clearance to lose doubles. 

Friday busy at work, went to TT training then to pub took £150 playing brag woohoo.  Then won a fiver at pool.  Then it went downhill, got home ILL. 

Woke up Saturday ILL.  Was due to go to Barnet game, decided to rest until it was time to leave, thus missing my normal pre-match ritual of a SnG on Stars.  Went to game was quite emotional.  Got home thus missing post match ritual of several SnGs on Stars.  ILL

Sunday Morning ILL, dragged myself over to the Rec for 2nd half of Pub teams 2-1 loss to FC D+B.  Went up mates to play in informal Blonde Tourney Deviltrout's Jacks held up against my AK sooooooooooottted.  Home then pub to greet the arrival from OZ of my poker mentor Lord Bob Ron.

Monday, ILL got sent home from work, spent afternoon in bed woke and decided I could handle Cubs, get there and got even worse!!.

Tuesday bettter get sent to Milton Keynes to swap a PC round with help from "IT Support" in Germany.  Spent three hours there and achieved nothing.  Went home had a TT match played like an imbecile. 

Today realise it's been a week since I did anything whoops.

So tonight is free of illness TT and cubs or pool, soo I will endeavour to finish it completely and update in parts tomorrow providing I don't get sent back to MK.  There are some things that could scupper this.

1 I get bored and go down the pub.
2 My mates get bored and get me down the pub.
3 My ex gets bored and asks me nicely if I want to go down the pub.
4 Neighbours need a stunt double.

To be honest I was going to let it slide but as you asked so nicely I will finish it.

Good man, looking forward to reading the remainder mate.

I’m not very good at sleeping in so I was downstairs in the bar by 11:30 after a couple of nurofen to try and cure my rather monster headache.  Armed with my book, the Mighty Walzer by Howard Jacobson about a kid who discovers he’s a bit useful at the sport of kings, I order my orange juice and settle into a morning fag and how Jacobson conquered the Greater Manchester Table Tennis league. 

I have no idea how long it was between each person came down but the first person to join me was Ironside resplendent in his Southampton FC fleece.  Gradaully we were joined by Heid and a rather rough looking Dusk Till Dawn Brothers Chubbs and Rob.  Normal blonde service resumed with spirits high already and conversations recounting the previous nights exploits.  We had a very friendly bar maid who was extremely helpful and seemed to have caught the attention of a certain male blondite who gave us a lesson in how not too impress the opposite sex;

“Will you marry me?”

“Sorry I’m engaged, besides I’d have thought you’ have four or five on the go”

“I do, just fancied another one”

Exit barmaid stage left.

As the afternoon went on more and more Blondeites resurfaced including Tikay Robert HM and probably a few others that my memory fails at the moment.  Rather unpredictably at some point Rob actually paid me what seemed like a genuine compliment “you’re an alright guy Mr F” followed by the utterly predictable put down “but you need a coat that doesn’t look like you’ve ripped up the carpet”!

Kev came down with his friend from the night before the immaculately dressed Bongo.  Bongo was still in the same clothes as the night before after Kev heard he was going to sleep in his car and offered him somewhere to “sleep”.  Bongo insisted that he’d had a shower, so I don’t know what Kev did to the young man but it must have been startling as his hair certainly had a “shocked” look.

wow i thought i had left it at the casino the night before and didnt pick it up till the early hours of monday morning

With the arrival of each new Blondite came a question as to the whereabouts of the Scots boys and the answer that they were watching Celtic lose to the mighty Clyde.

AN interesting conversation then occurred between Mr Yong and myself.  Noticing my   book he announced that he’d played for England, knowing he was bluffing me I just played along trying to let him spin a yarn that I could shoot down.  He gave some names that I’d never heard of, (as well as playing I spend a lot of time on some TT websites the only site I visit more is Blonde) so I asked if he played with Paul Drinkhall (current European Under 15 champion) knowing that he hadn’t.  He told me yes and I told him he couldn’t have with a very smug look on my face.  He told me he misheard me and thought I meant O’Driscoll.  Then came a bit of a twist, he rattled off various very credible names from the England Table Tennis Scene and had me doubting my initial judgement.  Was he telling the truth?  Is he actually any good?  Well I don’t know but if he ever does fancy a game I sure I can accommodate him.

Celtic were still losing and despite many many attempts from Ironside the Scots boys were out of contact.  The afternoon had raced by and it was time to get to the casino for the much anticipated Pub Quiz. 

I made my way over to the Broadway with Heid and her niece Sarah.  She really is wonderful, funny warm intelligent and always has something nice to say.  It was an absolute pleasure to spend a large part of the weekend with such an amazing woman.  You can see where her niece gets it from. 

Got to the casino and mingled a bit.  I was met with many a “how’s the head Mr F” to which the normal reply was a smug “fine thanks”.  Said hi to Snoppy who came in with his brother.  Found two thirds of my team Dave and Mel at the three card poker table and told them we were starting and got prime position with Skippy by the fire.  Got the first set of questions and realised this was not going to be an easy afternoon quiz. 

Dave and Skip got bored by about round three and sloped off to try their luck at the gaming tables.  Leaving Mel and I to fend for ourselves.  Luckily Ginger came along to help.  Struggled through the whole thing with my only real moment being the question of Eskimo Rolls in the sports round.  Being a BCU 1 Star myself this was easy to answer and showed that the five years spent messing about on the Marlow stretch of the Thames was definitely worth it.  The only other point of any interest was helping Scots Dave.  Having a conversation about our mutual friend Samantha Morton under the nose of Tikay trying to sniff out any cheating was particularly enjoyable.  Unfortunately despite the girls massive intellect and getting answers out of Tighty we still managed to come last!

Managed to get some food this time and spent the time wisely getting information from Jane about Student loans for mature students.  She was really helpful and told me what I need to do and when to do it.  Realise now it’s all very well getting the advice but it really is better to act on it!   

I've always liked that Bracken..

heid
xx

Hey I answered all the Barbeat questions correct :)  that was 10 points there :)  my brain was missing for the rest,  too many vodkas lol

People started making their way to the card area for some sngs to pass the time.  I was on a table with Pokerdave69, Scottish Dave, The Nun, 4dam, Drinkstella, Skippyskip, Teacake to my left and The Tank to my right.  There was definitely one more whose name I don’t recall and I think I may have forgotten someone completely.  It was a tenner to play.  I just played my normal game trying not to embarrass myself and be the first out.  Skippy saved me that honour as he exited fairly quickly.  Pokerdave eventually amassed a massive chip stack knocking a few people out and looked like he might get some more cash to add to his fourth from the night before. 

Before I knew it he’d blown all his chips and there were just three of us left, Teacake, Drinkstella and myself.  I was pleased cos at least I’d got my money back.  Teacake and I had woefully small stacks and Drinkstella was in a position to really dominate us.  I managed to pick up KK in the big blind and was relishing the prospect of doubling up ad letting DS knock out TC to make second.  TC folded and DS put me all in for m the sb.  I couldn’t move my chips in quick enough, as he turned over A2.  Excellent I though no ace and I’m sorted as a singe two came on the flop but I still didn’t see any danger.  The 2 on the turn wasn’t very pleasant and the Ace on the river just compounded my misery!!  So near yet so far. 

With that part of the day over people started coming over for the hundred comp.  I found Tikay and asked him what the arrangements were for the update and he told me that there were too many non-blondes to make it worthwhile.  So I was left with the prospect of a whole evening doing absolutely naff all, which didn’t thrill me too much.  Dave had decided not to ply either so we were trying to sort out something to do.  He had already picked up a large amount of cash from the machines and was enjoying the casino too much to leave.  I thought about joining Ironside on his excursion but decided to give it a miss as the only time I visited such an establishment I spent the equivalent of the yearly budget of a small African country. 

Managed to find Cupcake and sat down with him by the bar.  It didn’t take me long to realize that although he did extremely well in the WSOP last year he wasn’t some kind of poker superstar.  He’s a really good guy who has some very  interesting opinions, lots to say and some great stories to tell.  I could say plenty more but I think I’ll leave it at that. 

Dave must have stepped in something at some point during the weekend as he kept coming over with more winnings, this time from the roulette machines.  Lucky git.

Before I knew it it was nearly midnight and I was knackered so John and I wandered back to the hotel, checked the bar for anymore blondes of which there were none, and went to bed after another long day.