blonde poker forum

The Blue Club Card Room will host a poker festival this summer in Bergen, Norway. Being the largest poker club in Norway, we hope to attract some British players as well to our event.

The Main Event will be a $1060 NL Hold'em freezeout, pre-paid via net dollars on Stars, Party or Ladbrokes.

The other events are as follows:

Monday 13th: 200NOK rebuy NL Hold'em
Tuesday 14th: 1600NOK fixed limit freezeout Hold'em
Wednesday 15th: 2200NOK PL Hold'em freezeout
Thursday 16th: 1600NOK PL Omaha High freezeout
Friday 17th: 500NOK rebuy NL Hold'em
Saturday 18th: $1060 NL Hold'em Main Event
Sunday 19th: Main Event Final + 400NOK PL rebuy Hold'em

Satelites are running on Pokerstars every tuesday and thursday at 8pm Norwegian time.

If you desire more information, please contact me on svagene@hotmail.com.

The Main Event has to be prepaid with internet $, last date to pay is monday 13th June.

Sigbjorn Vagene
Blue Club Card Room,
Bergen, Norway

Hi sig75,

Thanks for that.

Nearest airport? Local hotel costs? Likely number of runners?

Are these dates all June?

If fllights from the UK are reasonably priced, I would imagine you could attreact quite a few Brits.

Can you help us with more info please?

Hello!

Nearest airport: Bergen Flesland (15 minutes from the club/city centre)

Flight costs: 13th June from London Stanstead - 20th June from Bergen Flesland - 1936NOK (approx 168)  on www.norwegian.no (with departure 17th June and same return price is 1736NOK, approx 151) Bus from airport is 80NOK (7) and taxi is 222NOK (19).

Prize with SAS Braathens from Heathrow is 2646NOK (approx 230) on the same dates.

Norwegian is a low cost airline company like e.g. RyanAir, while SAS is an "ordinary" company.

Local hotel costs is around 600NOK (52) pr night, but there are alternatives more reasonable in bed and breakfasts or guesthouses. Please contact me for more information, then I will check this for you.

Maximum numbers of runners (for the Main Event) is 125, and we hope this will fill up. As of today, around 60 has entered. There will be some of the best players in Norway, and some of the Swedish ones as well will come.

All dates are June, yes. The first event is June 13th, and the last is June 19th.

Feel free to call me on +47 924 20 956 or email me at svagene@hotmail.com if you have any questions.

Sigbjorn

Additional info now out on www.blueclub.no - how to pay etc. In English...

Hi Sig,

Yes, it's now almost certain I shall come out for the Main Event, & maybe one or two other events. I will ring you tomorrow to sort it all out.

Have any Brits entered yet?

Hi Tikay.

Excellent news. No Brits have registered yet, but a Brit called me Saturday to let me know he would enter. (Can't remember his name) In addition, I hope to get some of the Blondepoker members to join as well...

Sig

I almost forgot - Ladbrokes poker will host a multi-table satelite ($50+5 rebuy) Sunday June 12th with 2 seats GUARANTEED to Main Event (plus $260 in spending money). I will be back here with additional information as soon as the satelite is out in their schedule.

Yes please Sig, keep us up to speed. I don't fancy taking on all those Scandies single handed!

And come on some of you blondeites, get yourself out to Norway next week!

i aint got a passport or i would have been tempted by the PLO freezeout

isnt poker outlawed in norway???????????

Will Tikay have to speak "Norwegian only" during the games ?

 ;)

Have you ever listened to Norweigans speaking? I don't mean to be rude, but they sound like a cross between turkeys (not TurkISH, turkEYS) & Geordies. It really is a strange language.

But I went to Martin De Knijff's club in Stockholm last year (that's Sweden I think) & I gotta say, what a great bunch of guys these Scandies are - tremendous fun at the table. Pardon the spam, but here's a link to a piece I wrote about my Stockholm adventure........ http://www.blondepoker.com/TourReportStockholm.htm

det har vaert foelelsesmessig.....Tikay....det har vaert foelelsesmessig!!

Well for those that don't have the deep fluency in Norwayish that I am lucky to possess, that means, literally translated,  "It's been emotional".......

Some additional information to you guys:

- any tabe with one or more foreign players will have an "English only" rule, including dealers, waiters etc.
- "Norwayish" or Norwegian as we call it is a very easy language, don't be alarmed. It's so easy that I spoke it fluently at the age of 4.
- poker is "outlawed" in concern of a casino ban, but friendly poker play in private clubs is allowed. A membership fee has to be paid in order to play in the club, and this fee is currently 50NOK (4).

- For those of you playing on PokerStars, there will be a satelite today at 8 p.m. (Norwegian time). That might be 7 p.m. British time, check this out Tikay please? This is a $20+2 turbo rebuy satelite with one seat guaranteed. (No travel expences...)
- Another satelite at Thursday, same time, this time a $100+9 freezeout. One seat guaranteed.
- For both satelites, there will be one seat for each $1060 in the pot.

Hi Guys,

I can confirm that there is a 1 hour time difference, 8pm Norwayish is 7pm British.

I have just chatted to Sig, & he tells me that interest from the Brits is growing daily, about half a dozen Brits have been on the phone to enquire, & 3 or 4 have signed up already.

Is it Legal? Yup. It's a private club, not a Casino, so thats OK. And the buy in for the Main Event can only be done in advance, online, so that solves another problem. No alcohol will be allowed, but that's no problem to me - as long as I can get a pot of tea, I'm happy.

Just a little additional information:

- we are not allowed to serve or sell alcohol. Members can bring their own beverages (beer etc) to enjoy at the club.

- There will be a small cafeteria where we will sell sandwiches, hot-dogs, chocolate bars, soda etc.

- I guess the coffee-drinking Norwegians will have to let the Brits have some tea as well.

Where in the Ladbrokes tourney section is the satellite ?

I had a look but couldn't fin it.

I think the Satellite is running on Stars , rather than Laddies

Tomorrow at 7p.m. there will be a $100+9 freezeout satelite on Stars. There will be a $50+5 rebuy satelite on Laddies on Sunday at 7 p.m., but the wankers haven't put it out yet. It will probably be out during the afternoon.

LOL  ....another new recruit to the diplomatic corps :)

I just spoke to Ladbrokes. The reason the satelite isn't out yet, is becaues they have recieved a query from some official agency investigating e.g. financial crimes. They are afraid that satelites like this, where money is paid out online after a live event can be used to whitewash money from illegal activities.

However, this doesn't mean that the satelite stops, it just means that the decision to put the satelite out has to be taken on a higher level within Ladbrokes. The head monkey is in Stockholm today, but they thought they would reach him within the afternoon and get a yes to arrange it. However, if you want to buy directly in on Ladbrokes, you have to email them to do so, you can't "click in" as an ordinary tourney.

Must have attended the seminar Tikay did on "subtlety, innuendo and how not to offend our European brothers"

Yes, did attend that seminar. We really enjoyed Tikay's lectures on the topic, as well as the excellent tea (no coffee  :P) served in the break.

more to the point when is norway going to sign up to being a member of the UK so we dont need passports

Ironside, you keep telling us you havent got a passport, now tell us why you havent got a passport

1) it cost 10
2) i need to get into a photo booth (not many have wheelchair access and i hate having photo taken)
3) i cant be bothered filling in the form you seen the size of it

1) It costs 10 = he is scottish
2)I need to get into a photo booth = they cost 3 + he is scottish
3)Cant be bothered to fill in the form = cant be wasting the ink, he is scottish.

Ok to sum up....The reason Ironside does not have a passport is entirely down to the fact that HE IS SCOTTISH !!    ;D

The WHAT havent put it out yet? Bet that's the first time Ladbrokes have been called THAT......

You've shocked me Sig. Didn't know Norwayish folks swore.

But some breaking news on this Festival in Norway is that negotiations are at an advanced stage for it to be covered by Poker 425, thanks to the co-operation of friend Sig75.

I have had 6 or 7 conversations with Sigbjorn to set up the TV deal, in the course of which we mentioned the need for "disclaimer forms" which folks have to sign before we can film them. I asked Sigbjorn if we needed to get them translated into Norweigan. He said "why?". I said well, we need to ensure everyone can read them, & being as most of the players will be Norweigan, ought we to print them in their native language? He said "dont worry, all Norweigans over the age of 10 speak English fluently". I said same here Sig, we all speak perfect Norweigan....

Makes you think, eh?

Just to rub it in, it will be "English only" at any table that includes a Brit. Jeez, how embarrassing is that?

Some more news:

Poker 425 is coming on Friday, staying until the final is over on Sunday. So I guess you Brits can get your 15 minutes of fame if you come over to beautiful Norway.

Tourism: A "Norway in a nutshell"-tour is available on Saturday or Sunday. This includes a train-ride to Voss, Train ride with "Flaamsbana", the worlds steepest railway, a boat-trip on the largest fjord in Norway (Sognefjorden), bus ride back to Voss and the train to Bergen again. Perfect for first-timers in Norway, as you get to see some magnificent scenery, and the chance to buy some chinese-produced "genuine" Troll souvenirs. Price: approx 500NOK, duration 6-8 hours.

Football: On Sunday, the top two Norwegian teams clash together in Bergen, Brann (Bergen) and Rosenborg (Trondheim). Contact me if interested in me buying tickets.

There will bean overall price in addition to the seperate tourney prizes. 3% of each tourney's prize pool is subtracted to this. Top 3 overall players for the whole festival divides this pool 50/30/20. The overall winner also gets a nice trophy and - hold your breath - a sponsored ticket to the Norwegian Championship of NL Hold'em for 2006. This ticket has a value of 4400NOK, approx $750. This is sponsored by Ladbrokes Poker.

Hmm. TRAIN ride to Voss. TRAIN ride on world's steepest railway. (It's a railway Sig, NOT a railroad). TRAIN back to Bergen.

WHAHOO!

OK Sig, just booked my flight, I come out on Friday, & come back to civilisation on Monday.

Now, hotel. My colleagues in Poker 425 tell me you recommended a local Raddison Hotel - there seems to be two, the Norge, & The Royal, but their website says they are both "unavailable". Can you give me an alternative please?

I also discussed this tourney with Willie Tann last night, the 2004 Rankings Winner, & he is 90% certain to come along as well, so the hotel info is quite urgent.

Hey Tikay, call  me tomorrow and I will sort you out. If you want to sort it out yourself, both hotel Bristol and Strand hotel are decent hotels downtown.

And finally, the wa****s at Ladbrokes have put the satelite out on the MTT tab. It is also possible to paydirectly into the Main Event now under the MTT tab. Sunday at 7 p.m. - don't be late!

This is a TWO SEATS GUARANTEED $50+5 rebuy tournament, with unlimited rebuys for 60 minutes and one top-up. Very good value in this tourney!

In addition to the two seats, Ladbrokes will donate $240 to each of the top 2 so they can pay for (some of) the travel/beer/hotel costs.

Rainbow Hotel Bristol
Torgalmenningen 11
5014 Bergen
Tel: +47 55 55 10 00

Strand Hotel
Strandkaien 2-4
5013 Bergen
Tel: +47 55 59 33 00

Radisson SAS Hotel Norge
Nedre Ole Bulls Plass 4
5012 Bergen
Tel: +47 55 57 30 00

Neptun Hotell
Valkendorfsgaten 8
5012 Bergen
Tel: +47 55 30 68 00

These are all nice hotels down town.

dont stay in any hotel run by the sas you might be safe from the enermy but those are the only guys in the world that scare me got to have 2 loose screws to even think about joining

Scandinavian Airline System, not Special Air Service..... No soldiers running around the reception desk with huge guns.

phew you had me scared

i ate in the mess at a base used by the sas when we were used as cannon folder for one of there exercises there cooks leave alot to be desired and i certainly wouldn't let them loose on paying guests

Hey Sig, what are you doing to me? I just visited www.blueclub.no & saw this plastered all over the page.......

"....TIKAY IS COMING!

Tony Kendall from www.blondepoker & Poker 425 (seen on British television) has announced that he is coming over. He will probably play some other events as well, & will surely be a force to be reckoned with when the player of the festival prize is announced...."

Has "announced".......? "Force to be reckoned with"?

Jeez, your fellow countrymen will think I can play or something. Humble early exit, amid much embarrassment, beckons......

Just play your rock tight "I-play-only-Aces-Kendall"-style, and you will surely have enough to post blinds for five-six hours. And by then some young Norwegian is bound to be knocked out, so you will not get an early exit. At least not first... :P

Ahh, you have rumbled my game then......

Today the first event of the festival starts! In just an hour or so, the first fishes will arrive to the 200NOK NL Hold'em rebuy. More than 75 people are expected, and that is good, considering the local football team (Brann Bergen) plays their neighbouring rivals from Stavanger (Viking Stavanger) today. (Go Brann!!!)

I will update the info when we get down to the money or so, look after it in the Live Update Section.

Sig

Yes please Sig, keep us updated.

By the way, we are booked into the Hotel Bristol.

Obviously you have a hidden agenda........the train.

I wondered why you were so keen.

I look forward to the trip report  ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz

You got me Ralph.

And it a funicular - how cool is that? So pleased you are looking forward to the trip report. Will include full details of the rolling stock & PW.

whats a funny colour?

Sigh....

It's pronounced "foo" as in foo, boo, two or too. Nut "fun" as in run, bun or done. How on earth do foriegners learn our language?

Would you like me to explain what a funicular railway is Red? I can keep it brief - 8 or 9 pages max.....

PS - Will reply to your note tomorrow - been offline most of day & pulled out all day. I love you.

glad you love me, I was starting to worry

Is it a train that goes up hill pulled by a cable?

Very very true Red-Dog. Steep uphill as well, as Bergen is known in Norway as "the city between the seven mountains". Since I am fortunate enough to come from North Western Norway, where the mountains are measured in kilometers and not meters,  I prefer to call it "the city between the seven hills". This to much irritation to my friends and co-workers from Bergen...

But I bet you Brits will still be amazed by the "hills" with the "towed, uphill train".