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As you know, I don't do bad-beat stories but I did have a corker last night.

It was 2nd or 3rd break when I realised I had not eaten anything for 2 days, so maybe I needed to get some food down me as soon as I got back to my room.

5 minutes left on break, so I dashed to the MGM "Grab & Go" shop & without looking too much picked up 2 random sandwiches.

Now that's a proper bad-beat.

Last night was the $250 Big O @ MGM.

In short, no good. Had a terrific run, and with 133 entries there were 15 spots paid, but I fell just shy in 17th. I genuinely could have limped to a min-cash but I did not fancy that, & anyway I found a lovely spot with A-2-8-J-K double suited (to the King & Ace) & got looked up by A-4-7-9-Q. I could hardly be in better shape & had him beat at both ends, but he scooped. Such is Big O.

Results so far this trip are "thin" & it's not happening so far. I think my game is the same as it always was - for better or worse -  but we all think that, don't we? Don't think I've ever heard anyone say their game has got worse, or they are, say, a bad motor car driver.  One thing I have noticed is that the very top players never say "I was card-dead all night", do they? And yet it must happen, we all get the same card distribution over time. 

There was a lad on the table driving me nuts with sniffing. Great big, lengthy catarrh-swallowing sniffs every 2 or 3 minutes. I SO wanted to go to the RestRoom & offer him some paper towels to blow his nose, but I'm guessing it would not have been appreciated. Does nobody carry & use handkerchiefs these days?

Fella to my direct left had all the gear, including mask, shades & hoodie, ensuring none of us could get a facial read. Despite all that, he had THE most obvious tell ever - when he planned to Bet or Call, he'd pick up the exact amount of chips well before it was him to act. So the whole table knew exactly what he was going to do, lol. Perfect for me, to his immediate right, especially when I had a marginal decision. Not that it helped me much in the end.

Anyway, 8 nice MTT's left on the schedule. We shall see.

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?

You really do need to write an autobiography Tikay, from your postings over the years it would definitely be an excellent read.

No Wimbledon for me, I have been many times over the years and don't really miss going there to watch now. It's a much easier trip to go to Eastbourne for the tennis and I often go there to watch County Week, which is an excellent level of tennis. I'm still playing although it's now about trying to maintain a decent (ish) level, whilst the body starts to slow down. No tips for Wimbledon from me I'm afraid, I generally support the outsiders and the brits, so little chance of a winner.

Everything is fine at home, we have a new(ish) German Shepherd dog who we rescued last year and is a work in progress, and an old GSD who is the dog equivalent of my tennis, still tries to play with the youngsters despite being slower and weaker. Currently have about 20 ducks, two moorhen broods, two different herons visiting and swallows nesting in the stables. Down to just 4 cats now and two horses. Thankfully Beaula does most of the animal chores, it keeps her fit and happy, apparently.

I am currently still working, I was due to retire in January but was lied to by the company taking over my business so pulled out of that deal and had to sort another one out. I managed to do that and, in theory, we complete the sale at the end of this month, fingers crossed. I will be staying on for a few months to make sure all the clients are happy, although that will be in an unpaid capacity. At least from next month I should be free of all the mundane paperwork and FCA regulations.  

Anyway I'm off to Kent for a client meeting now, good luck with the poker today, I miss out PLO8 DYM evenings.

Your menagerie sounds idyllic.

The Herons - do they come for the fish in your ponds/lakes, the duck & moorhen chicks, or both?

Bloody love Herons, but they are mean buggers. Saw a video once of a Heron eating a rabbit. To be fair, it did drown it first, perhaps to help it slide down.

Bet you are looking forward to retirement? Been so good for me. Trouble is, it only lasts so long...

Those PLO8 nights we used to have? Wow, what fun they were. And then Churchy came along & ruined it all.


http://www.youtube.com/shorts/DJdsnMyVSQ4

[but spend too much time online nowadays.]

I've always loved reading a newspaper, though it has to be my own unopened copy, there's something about the crisp pages of an unopened newspaper.

First paper I read was the Daily Herald, which morphed into The Sun in the early sixties. From there I worked my way up to The Times & FT. I abandoned The Times after it went Tabloid & the actual "news" content became about 3 pages, the rest being fill. The FT was a great read but after I went busto the first time in the late 80's & had to sell all my shares there seemed no point.

In the USA though, they have three magnificent daily newspapers in the Washington Post, New York Times & Wall Street Journal, & when I'm in the States I make a point of buying them every day. I'm a speed reader but even so there's an hour of good solid reading in each of them.

I became so addicted to them after a recent trip to the States that I went to my local newsagent (which is a misnomer these days, there's no such thing really) to get them delivered, but they said "deliver newspapers, what?". No paper boys? Jeez. We ALL had paper round as kids, didn't we? I had 3 actually, & they each paid 2/6 a week though I had to pay that to my parents for "board & lodge".

Circulation of print Dailies has of course declined by about 80% in the last 40 years, most of them don't even publish circulation numbers any more for fear of scaring away advertisers.

I suppose I could subscribe to Digital version of those USA 'papers for around $2 per week, but reading news Online is not the same. (Similar to Kindles & proper books). Especially on Sky News. Click the article "7 million killed in Tsunami" or whatever & before you can read the article we have to watch a 30 second advert for Tesco or Incontinence Pants.

Anyway, whilst here I'm reading some quality Newspapers whilst I still have the chance. Proper news, in-depth articles, & a good hour to get through. News Heaven.

Same here Tony. I only read actual books. Used to read several a week,but spend too much time online nowadays.
Have hundreds of books in the house, waiting to be read

Too much time online....

Every now & then I do a check & it always scares me. It's so easy & convenient to keep "checking our 'phones".

After retiring - before which, when to a degree, screen-time was part of my work, I made a huge effort to be more disciplined. I was even checking my 'phone between every hole on the Golf Course. I cured myself of all that, but every now & then I slip back.

Here's my horrifying stats for the last 7 days. My excuse is that I'm sat at the poker tables or in my hotel room for long periods every day, doing a few Diary posts, & worst/best of all, chatting to my mates back home on WhatsApp.

36 hours online, of which 20 hours were on WhatsApp? WTF?!

the really good times in life would not feel anywhere near as good , without  getting through the really bad times in life

So true.

I tend to say I love a bit of adversity. That's not quite true though - what I really love is the eventual sense of immense satisfaction I get from overcoming it. It's horrible at the time but fabulous in retrospect.

Bit like running a Marathon I suppose. It really can't be much fun, can it? Afterwards though, there must be that incredible sense of achievement.

No different in poker. We take all the beats stoically, but then when we get a bink it makes up for the "pain".

[everything]

Today's headlines are typical of the increasingly hysterical media and politician-led frenzy. Devoid of relevant facts, to place things into context. In order that sensible choices can be made.

Reform are probably the worst offenders in relation to this. Endless meaningless soundbites. And no real budgets. But all Parties and Commentators do it.

Let's start with the obvious lies.

People want you to believe that taxes should be paid by people not like you. And benefits should only be paid to people just like you. And that's really not the way the system works. Never has. And never will. And the Farages of this World know that fine well.

Next-defence spending. People always trot out the "just an extra 0.5% of GDP" bit. As though that is not a lot of money. When it really, really is. 0.5% of GDP is £15 BILLION. This year. Next year. And every year. GDP isn't "tax"-it is the total of everything earned in the UK

Forget the Far Left's "We'll just tax the rich". The World has tried to increase tax for the rich since time began. And-guess what? It doesn't succeed.
The Far Right think it is as simple as cutting benefits and net zero targets. When the former only tends to create a new benefit need identical in cost to the last one. And the latter saves a tiny sum.

The reality is that any increase will-as per usual-fall on the taxpayer. Not the Pensioner, with the Triple Lock still sacrosanct. Not the rich. And not those on Benefits. In simple terms, £15 Billion a year is an extra 2p on income tax. This year. And every year.

Is that cost worth it? Maybe. Maybe not. But don't believe the lies of politicians that the cost won't fall on the taxpayer. It will. It always does.

"Warfare not Welfare"? My arse.

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?

You really do need to write an autobiography Tikay, from your postings over the years it would definitely be an excellent read.

No Wimbledon for me, I have been many times over the years and don't really miss going there to watch now. It's a much easier trip to go to Eastbourne for the tennis and I often go there to watch County Week, which is an excellent level of tennis. I'm still playing although it's now about trying to maintain a decent (ish) level, whilst the body starts to slow down. No tips for Wimbledon from me I'm afraid, I generally support the outsiders and the brits, so little chance of a winner.

Everything is fine at home, we have a new(ish) German Shepherd dog who we rescued last year and is a work in progress, and an old GSD who is the dog equivalent of my tennis, still tries to play with the youngsters despite being slower and weaker. Currently have about 20 ducks, two moorhen broods, two different herons visiting and swallows nesting in the stables. Down to just 4 cats now and two horses. Thankfully Beaula does most of the animal chores, it keeps her fit and happy, apparently.

I am currently still working, I was due to retire in January but was lied to by the company taking over my business so pulled out of that deal and had to sort another one out. I managed to do that and, in theory, we complete the sale at the end of this month, fingers crossed. I will be staying on for a few months to make sure all the clients are happy, although that will be in an unpaid capacity. At least from next month I should be free of all the mundane paperwork and FCA regulations. 

Anyway I'm off to Kent for a client meeting now, good luck with the poker today, I miss out PLO8 DYM evenings.

This is worth a read:

https://arseblog.com/2026/06/the-ongoing-corruption-of-the-world-cup-by-gianni-infantino-aged-56-1-4/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=bluesky

The Guardian football email has been relentless in its take downs of Infantino and refers to the tournament as the Geopolitics World Cup or GWC.
It’s a far cry from the 16 team tournament of ‘66

I still have my Dad’s ticket from that happy day, it cost £1/10/- which is £25.05 today according to the Bank of England.

I've always loved reading a newspaper, though it has to be my own unopened copy, there's something about the crisp pages of an unopened newspaper.

First paper I read was the Daily Herald, which morphed into The Sun in the early sixties. From there I worked my way up to The Times & FT. I abandoned The Times after it went Tabloid & the actual "news" content became about 3 pages, the rest being fill. The FT was a great read but after I went busto the first time in the late 80's & had to sell all my shares there seemed no point.

In the USA though, they have three magnificent daily newspapers in the Washington Post, New York Times & Wall Street Journal, & when I'm in the States I make a point of buying them every day. I'm a speed reader but even so there's an hour of good solid reading in each of them.

I became so addicted to them after a recent trip to the States that I went to my local newsagent (which is a misnomer these days, there's no such thing really) to get them delivered, but they said "deliver newspapers, what?". No paper boys? Jeez. We ALL had paper round as kids, didn't we? I had 3 actually, & they each paid 2/6 a week though I had to pay that to my parents for "board & lodge".

Circulation of print Dailies has of course declined by about 80% in the last 40 years, most of them don't even publish circulation numbers any more for fear of scaring away advertisers.

I suppose I could subscribe to Digital version of those USA 'papers for around $2 per week, but reading news Online is not the same. (Similar to Kindles & proper books). Especially on Sky News. Click the article "7 million killed in Tsunami" or whatever & before you can read the article we have to watch a 30 second advert for Tesco or Incontinence Pants.

Anyway, whilst here I'm reading some quality Newspapers whilst I still have the chance. Proper news, in-depth articles, & a good hour to get through. News Heaven.

Same here Tony. I only read actual books. Used to read several a week, but spend too much time online nowadays.
Have hundreds of books in the house, waiting to be read

the really good times in life would not feel anywhere near as good , without  getting through the really bad times in life