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["Stable Genius"]

You'd struggle to guess the subject of the first one which carries the title "Stable Genius". I assume it's tongue-in cheek or ironic, as it describes the 2016-2020 Administration of Donald J Trump. To be fair, he does repeatedly describe himself thusly.

It reads like a work of fiction, it really is breathtaking.

My first interest in US politics was JFK and of course the dramatic ending. To this day I'm not sure I've seen the term "grassy knoll" refer to anything except that day in Dallas.

Then along came Nixon, and I devoured every word of every book about him. The story of how he was the architect of his own downfall because of his secret taping system really is extraordinary & somewhat of a morality tale.

Eventually the Nixon Tapes were published as a book, perhaps the most stunning book I've ever read, & I've read thousands. From that day on I knew that the worst, most corrupt, most lying, biggest grifter, US President of my lifetime was going to be Nixon.

And then along came Mr Trump.

How do these things happen? In this case, not once, but twice?

I read a lot. Every single day at home for at least an hour. Very little in life beats the pleasure of reading a well-written (non-fiction) book.

I read a great deal more when in Vegas though. I'm here to play poker but that leaves a lot of dead time, & I don't play Table Games or Slots. Plus, I like to arrive an hour early for Poker Tourneys to get registered, then go find a quiet corner & read my book. Poker "Dinner Breaks" too same thing. I thoroughly disapprove of Dinner Breaks in poker for all sorts of reasons. Not least having to sit with folks telling endless & wholly predictable "flop stories".

So the flop came...


Just xxx off.


Anyway, this years Vegas books follow....

Well this has been a tremendous find. One of the things I miss so much about the 'old' forum was your Vegas stories Tikay, so it's great to find them here. I read through all this visit's posts and it was a grim start but the last cash has righted the boat, now to power on and get some deep runs.
Good luck Sir!

Morning Paul, & thank you.

I've not been writing much from Vegas this year even though I love writing & (I think) I have such a bunch of fascinating stories. Fascinating to me, obviously, but not necessarily to others. I'm just not sure folks are that interested in Forum Diaries these days, especially by someone of my age. It's the WhatsApp age, everything has changed. A close friend of mine just wrote his autobiography (just for friends & family), & I've been mulling the idea of doing the same. I really have had THE most amazing life one way & another with some extraordinary twists & turns, & a whole bunch of "right time, right place".

Anyway, moving on, presumably you'll have tickets for Wimbledon which starts in a few weeks? Any views on likely winners?

You still playing much tennis?

Everything OK on the Country Estate & Private Zoo?  Mrs Tune OK?

Still working, or are you retired now?

Overall, I'm delighted. The cards were kind (until they were not....) and I played far more aggressively than I usually do.

A tremendous 3 hours of poker, maybe the most enjoyable I can recall.

Wow thanks for the detail Tony , congratulations.
Awesome read and you had a real shot at final tabling or better with just a little more luck but glad you’re happy with the ride
Hopefully our paths will cross again as I’m out an extended extra week, maybe at the mgm but choices of big plo8 are somewhat limited

Good to hear you've extended, Rob, & I hope a few more deep runs come your way.

Did you see the result of our WSOP Big O? The guy that ran 2nd has exactly 4 Hendons over an 11 year period. The biggest of the first 3 was $4,268, then he earned $258,690 for 2nd yesterday. You never know in poker, do you?

[Because of this 30-day threshold, many hotels and resorts in Nevada limit stays to 14, 21, or 28 days to prevent guests from legally establishing permanent "residency rights".]

Nice one Tony, I hope to join you tomorrow.  2 bullets no joy yesterday.
Down to 7k (from 25k) after 5 hands today but somehow on 1st bullet with 55k first break.  Crazy game .
Good luck tomorrow if I don’t see you - which hotel did you move to ?

Morning Rob.

I had a peruse of the WSOP App but never saw your name there, no good? What's today's plan?

Hotel palaver - I never changed Hotels, I changed Rooms. There's some obscure Nevada State Law that says you are not allowed to book more than 10 or 12 days at a time & Boyd Gaming, who own The Orleans, enforce it. So I had 2 bookings, back to back. Checked out at 11am, went & did some shopping, came back an hour later & checked back in.

Yeh no joy in big O, lasted to level 10.  Then had many many corona .
Early bath today in plo at V too.
Just went through extending my stay until next Tuesday which despite being diamond plus was still a hassle.
In my app it says all comped but host in diamond room insists I pay a paltry $30 a night for 3 nights - so little I’m not sure why they don’t just comp it all lol .  She also tells me I have to go the old fashioned go to front desk tomorrow evening to see if they can keep me in the same room the next day and avoid “moving rooms” like yourself.  Sometimes I do wonder if it’s 2026, some things are still way behind the ball for modern times.

This "having to switch rooms" malarky makes no sense, but I guess they are just staying the right side of the Nevada rule thing.

Mr google states....




There is no Nevada law specifically preventing hotel or motel stays longer than 11 days. In fact, under state law, stays that go beyond 30 consecutive days trigger Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 118A, which governs landlord-tenant relationships. Because of this 30-day threshold, many hotels and resorts in Nevada limit stays to 14, 21, or 28 days to prevent guests from legally establishing permanent "residency rights". If a guest attains tenant status under state law, the hotel must pursue a formal, lengthy court eviction process to remove them.To get around this and avoid establishing legal tenancy, many extended-stay properties or hotels require long-term guests to either:Temporarily check outMove into a different roomFor stays expected to last longer than the 11-to-30-day threshold, extended-stay properties operate under different licensing rules than standard, transient resorts

I knew it was 30 days, so surprised by their rules for a short stay in comparison.
Though populised by Howard hughes refusing to leave his hotel, it's more about they can no longer charge you tax on your hotel stay after 30 days

Yes, that makes a lot more more sense than the Howard Hughes story, linking it to the modern day thing which I always thought was semi apocryphal.

Some Vegas Hotel groups enforce it, others don't. Boyd Gaming (who own The Orleans, Gold coast & dozens more in Vegas & elsewhere) are particularly strict.

It's not a big deal really, just a mild irritatant. And a first world "problem".

Thought Katie played ok yesterday despite losing the first. Today i was worried when she got broke in the first game but she responded well it's a pity their is only 1 court with TV coverage i am so used to be able to pick a court to watch

Well this has been a tremendous find. One of the things I miss so much about the 'old' forum was your Vegas stories Tikay, so it's great to find them here. I read through all this visit's posts and it was a grim start but the last cash has righted the boat, now to power on and get some deep runs.
Good luck Sir!

Overall, I'm delighted. The cards were kind (until they were not....) and I played far more aggressively than I usually do.

A tremendous 3 hours of poker, maybe the most enjoyable I can recall.

Wow thanks for the detail Tony , congratulations.
Awesome read and you had a real shot at final tabling or better with just a little more luck but glad you’re happy with the ride
Hopefully our paths will cross again as I’m out an extended extra week, maybe at the mgm but choices of big plo8 are somewhat limited

[Because of this 30-day threshold, many hotels and resorts in Nevada limit stays to 14, 21, or 28 days to prevent guests from legally establishing permanent "residency rights".]

Nice one Tony, I hope to join you tomorrow.  2 bullets no joy yesterday.
Down to 7k (from 25k) after 5 hands today but somehow on 1st bullet with 55k first break.  Crazy game .
Good luck tomorrow if I don’t see you - which hotel did you move to ?

Morning Rob.

I had a peruse of the WSOP App but never saw your name there, no good? What's today's plan?

Hotel palaver - I never changed Hotels, I changed Rooms. There's some obscure Nevada State Law that says you are not allowed to book more than 10 or 12 days at a time & Boyd Gaming, who own The Orleans, enforce it. So I had 2 bookings, back to back. Checked out at 11am, went & did some shopping, came back an hour later & checked back in.

Yeh no joy in big O, lasted to level 10.  Then had many many corona .
Early bath today in plo at V too.
Just went through extending my stay until next Tuesday which despite being diamond plus was still a hassle.
In my app it says all comped but host in diamond room insists I pay a paltry $30 a night for 3 nights - so little I’m not sure why they don’t just comp it all lol .  She also tells me I have to go the old fashioned go to front desk tomorrow evening to see if they can keep me in the same room the next day and avoid “moving rooms” like yourself.  Sometimes I do wonder if it’s 2026, some things are still way behind the ball for modern times.

This "having to switch rooms" malarky makes no sense, but I guess they are just staying the right side of the Nevada rule thing.

Mr google states....




There is no Nevada law specifically preventing hotel or motel stays longer than 11 days. In fact, under state law, stays that go beyond 30 consecutive days trigger Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 118A, which governs landlord-tenant relationships. Because of this 30-day threshold, many hotels and resorts in Nevada limit stays to 14, 21, or 28 days to prevent guests from legally establishing permanent "residency rights". If a guest attains tenant status under state law, the hotel must pursue a formal, lengthy court eviction process to remove them.To get around this and avoid establishing legal tenancy, many extended-stay properties or hotels require long-term guests to either:Temporarily check outMove into a different roomFor stays expected to last longer than the 11-to-30-day threshold, extended-stay properties operate under different licensing rules than standard, transient resorts

I knew it was 30 days, so surprised by their rules for a short stay in comparison.
Though populised by Howard hughes refusing to leave his hotel, it's more about they can no longer charge you tax on your hotel stay after 30 days

Jut so that it makes sense to me Doobs, can you tell me what your average MILE time is for your 5k?

PS- Keep up the good work.

So am running a mile in 11.5 minutes, so just over 5mph.  Not going to break any World Records soon.  Have started beating people in the 55 to 59 age group, and I didn't use to. Think in my 2nd or 3rd parkrun I beat two people in total, and one of those would be tailrunner/walker, now I beat 25% or so; but a few more walk these days. 

There is a lady in her 80s who walks around ours with a stick most weeks.  She does about 70 minutes, but probably puts in more effort than most.  Always give her a cheer when I go past her on my last lap.

My daily 1k isn't every day, I just try and average that, so if I do a parkrun, I only have to run 2k in one evening during the week.  This week I need to do two 2ks and a 3k to keep on track.   I was over 10k behind at one stage, but have caught up.  If not busy, will try and do two 2ks and a parkrun.  People tell me I need to go 6ks, so 5k doesn't feel so bad.