blonde poker forum

I notice that the old Grosvenor Sandcastle in Blackpool has been converted to a "G-Casino" in what I assume is an estate-wide rebranding & refurbishment exercise by Grosvenor/Rank. The Cardroom, which many may have suspected was under threat, has actually been extended, & is now stated to have a capacity of 250.

Luton was done earlier this year, & although they currently limit capacity, it would seat 250 confortably, in my opinion, & is a stunningly nice cardroom, self-contained (as all good cardrooms are).

I have yet to see the new "G" in Manchester, but I hear it's pretty neat, & The Vic is almost ready to re-open, & they can't fail to improve on the previous situatiion where players were spread over three floors.

It's odd that nobody has commented on Grosvenor's apparent committment to the UK Poker scene. Clearly, they would not do it unless it was financially viable, but it's reassuring to see that by far the largest provider of Poker Venues in the UK has confirmed it's long-term committment to poker. We'd be buggered without Grosvenor, and although they get relentlessly knocked, I for one am relieved to see the road they are going down.

The only type of Venue we lack is somewhere that 400 or 500 can confortably be accomodated in a single sitting. I know, via my own connections, of somewhere between 15 & 20 Events a year that could comfortably require a capacity for 400 or 500 players - blonde Bashes, APAT Events, Sky Live Days, & other high capacity "series" I happen to know are in the pipeline, and that's without adding in EPT, WPT, GUKPT, WSOP-E, & GBPT.

If & when - fingers crossed - DTD open, we in the UK will be as well-served by Venues as anywhere in the World, with the possible exception of the USA, where they clearly lead the way in Vegas, but 95% of the country has no poker facilities. Once DTD are up & running, solving the "400 to 500 player" market, we will be truly spoiled for choice.

Those living in Mainland Europe must envy us. I was fascinated to see over 30 Scandies (and a French guy) at Gala Maybury last night for their £500. With cheap flights these days, this could be the start of a welcome trend - brng 'em on! The Scandies, relentlessly knocked & pilloried in chat boxes, are tremendous fun to share a Live table with, & almost always play in a healthy spirit.

Long may it last.

The only cloud I see in the sky is whether the market can stand all these Tourneys. Last weekend, if you lived in the Midlands, there were 6 Tourneys of £100 or more within an hours drive, so thay can't all succeed. This weekend we have the wonderful Walsall Monthly £300, the Mini-Fest at Blackpool, & the Scottish Open, & that while many players are doing Vegas. Anyway, at least we have been offered the choice, far better than no or little choice, as used to be the case.

One thing which may in fact help to take up the slack is the current initiatives which are bringing new players nto the Live Poker marketplace. APAT have done this well, Sky intend to stage more Live Days (and in fact Sky are significantly increasing the online player base already), and I know of several others that will be announced soon.

Good stuff.

I still think there is a large untapped market for live poker. Anything that APAT/Sky/Blonde does to encourage this all for the good in my book.
It is then down to card Rooms to have events at the right time, right price and to let their customers know what is available. I still find it odd that a Casino which is 400 miles way writes to me regularly and yet my local casino hardly ever contacts me.

For many, a regular email newsletter would be the best answer.  It doesn't cost a lot, and can be written by whoever is running the card room (with almost zero technical knowledge).  Not everyone uses email I know, but it's better than no contact at all - or generic glossy promotional literature that doesn't actually tell you what's going on.

Dam I thought this thread was going to give some instructions............

Although, I went to the Sandcastle in Blackpool last month, I took my dad on a Sunday for his birthday, and we played the rebuy and the £30 DC FO...

I thought the casino was excellent, and they were putting the finishing touches to it....It was fully DDA compliant....

I believe the entire Grosvenor estate is DDA compliant, ditto, I imagine, the Gala portfolio.

Somehow I have found myself organising or brokering quite a few Venues for various Events (not for personal gain, I hastily add), & I'd never recommend any Venue that was not DDA compliant.

£300 at blackpool had 67 runners tonight. I am back home before the end of level 2 and reddog, burnley john and womble all made level one exits as well. The new cardroom in blackpool is absolutely fantastic and I chopped the first comp played in it on monday night (taking the most dough even though I officially finished 3rd after saying leave me allin till its over after money had been chopped- who cares about the first prize when youve already got your dough at the end of the day). Was good to see the salad back in the game tonight and wish him all the best.

please dont start threads entitled "G-spot" and then bang on about that crap, i'm an excitable person

Sub-Editing at it's finest.

Once you put G-spot up there i didnt see anything else which is  ironic as in real life ive been told i dont pay enough attention to..................forget it ::)

How can you get excited - I didn't think that guys knew what the g spot was?  rotflmfao

 rotflmfao rotflmfao rotflmfao

cheers russ , the cardroom is superb , i just hope grosvener realise the fullpotential of wat is a premiership venue ,  it was great to be at the tables , actually made the final but go tmuffed k7 against aq.  i am rooting for mickey fletcher , his friend and poker travelling companion  passed away 2 weeks ago and it would be nice for mickey to win it and as i said to him terry will be kicking the rail in the sky waiting for his percentage , go fletch do it for terry..

 

Mick did indeed win it.

16 return tomorrow for day two of the £500. I'm still in there with average chips, which is nice considering that at one point I had my jacket on and was halfway out the door.

I got it all in against Nice Dave with AA v his KK and he spiked a K on the turn, I thought he had me covered but I still had a few left. Then the poker gods smiled on me and I doubled up twice in two hands, and after about another 3 hours of short stack grinding Dave and I clashed again. This time my JJ held against his AK and I left him in the same condition that he had left me in, on the resperator. No miracle recovery for Dave though, he went out a few hands later.

I did want to say a few words about the new cardroom but it will have to wait until later, I'm cream crackered.

Smoke me a kipper.....

My first impression of the newly branded  “G” casino in Blackpool was WOW!! 
I had heard that the refurbishment cost a cool £3.5 million, and that’s a lot of conkers, even by my standards. When I walked into the new place however, I could see where the money had gone.

Everything is new and improved. Ceilings have been raised, a mezzanine floors installed, the restaurant has been relocated upstairs, and I think they must have reclaimed a fairly large chunk of the Irish sea to accommodate the fantastic new 250 seater card room.

Speaking as a poker player, I was mightily impressed. I am a staunch supporter of Grosvenor card rooms in general and I have always enjoyed coming to Blackpool in particular. The management and staff are always pleasant, helpful and approachable. They are what I call “pro poker”

So There I was, playing the beautifully structured £500 main event, in one of Britain’s best card-rooms. I was on a nice “lively” table, everyone was relaxed, plenty of table talk and light-hearted banter, just the way I like it. Cushty!

I was just trying to decide whether to smooth call or re-pop a min raise from the smiley-faced young man who was small blind to my big. I had position and AQ but the minimum raise had me worried, I looked directly into his eyes and asked “Why so small?” His lips moved, but I never got to hear his answer. In fact I never got to hear anything else at all except a Herman’s Hermits tribute band playing at about a trillion decibels.

Gone was the table talk, gone was the banter, gone was any chance of getting info by talking to fellow players. I knew the dealer was trying to make himself heard, but every time he opened his mouth all we got was Herman doing a deafening voice over. Someone would raise, and the dealer would turn to the next player and say, “Something tells me I’m into something good” or  “No milk today my love has gone away” One time, he leaned over to me and said “Mrs Brown you’ve got a lovely daughter” I remained silent. There’s just no answer to a statement like that.

To be serious for a moment, it spoiled the whole evening for me. I enjoy music as much as the next man, but not when I’m in the middle of a £500+50 main event poker tournament. Apparently it's not a "One off" I'm told they have live music booked for virtually every night. Surely there must be a way to work around this, poker and very loud music just don't mix.

Noooooo!

I've not been to the "new" Sandcastle yet, but Luton has the same "Live Act" problem, it's simply not possible to play poker when the "turn" is on, due to the extreme volume used. Oddly, I've never seen more than 5 or 6 people watching the Stage Act. Everybody listens to it though - they have no choice! - conversation becomes impossible, & the whole ambience is destroyed.

It's quite reasonable (& very good) for Grosvenor to put on little Cabaret turns most nights to attract customers, I'm fine with that, & just as well, because it works for Grosvenor, & it won't go away.

But what Grosvenor management, at local and head office level, fail to realise, is that the extreme volume used means it is actually driving Members away, even non-poker members.

I was at Grosvenor Newcastle a few weeks ago, & the volume of the Freddie Mercury Tribute act was actually so painful, that members (non-poker mainly) were leaving the building in droves, & many of us were forced to stand outside the building, in the rain, to get away from the noise. I would estimate that 30 people walked out - nonpoker players I mean. The poker players, to a man, refused to continue with the Tournament - it was just impossible - so we held play off for an extra half hour, until the music stopped, so to speak. The Cardroom Manager was a great guy, & he arranged for the second part of the singers act to be abandoned, so that play could now continue. Most of us eventually went round the corner to a Resturant for an hour, we could not even use the Grosvenor Rstaurant, due to the noise.

It's just ONE fault - the extreme volume. You can't & won't play blackjack, roulette, or poker, in these conditions.

I'll wager an even £100 - if someone from Grovenor Head Office heard just how loud it as they'd immdiately issue a "keep it quieter please" edict to all local management.

Poker players are notoriously selfish, & hard to please, but in this case, they are 100% correct - the music is just TOO loud. For anyone, never mind poker players.

That apart, a big up to Grosvenor & Rank, as per my opening Post.

I don't like the, they are an improvement on the old casinos but still a million miles behind the likes of LCI.

If the Grosvenor Suits read this (and I think they will......), I hope they'll also consider this.

This weekend, Grosvenor alone (ignoring other Casino Chain's events) have....

The Monthly £300 at Walsall

The Monthly £250 at Cardiff

The Blackpool Mini-Fest.

These are ALL excellent tourneys, superb, but we can't be everywhere on the same day.

Is there any chance that Grosvenor could appoint a National Tourney co-ordinator, so that these clashes could be avoided?

It'd be a win-win, & free.

Tikay, I've started playing at the G-Casino in Manchester on a regular basis. I'll start writing up trip reports in the near future.

Top man, thanks.