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Yesterday was a rest day, nothing on my schedule & nothing that took my fancy, so I did a bit of shopping for Gill & just chilled.

Today was the $120 Limit O8 @ South Point, quite a contrast to a $1,500 WSOP but enjoyable all the same, and I was reasonably happy to run into 10th place for $340, which is a $220 profit on the day. I won't trouble you with the ins & outs given it was just a small affair, but to me, running deep in any comp, no matter what the buy-in, is always exciting.

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?

I didn’t see no. But it’s more common than you think for a random to have a good run in any tournament.
On the hotel note , they cocked my reservation when they combined them and had me checking out tomorrow instead of next Wednesday
Guy on desk was brash like it was my fault (and this was in diamond check in), no apology - “you’ll have to come back when she’s working tomorrow”
Ok tomorrow morning I ask ?
“No sir shes in from 4pm”
Me - that’s not much use if I’m checking out tomorrow , is there anyone else that can sort this ?
“Yes come back at 11am and someone should be able to help” - 10:20am

So a 4th visit to the desk an hour later and it’s the same guy but he’s sorted it and was all nice and professional that time - got me grumpy for an hour lol , but finally sorted , rant over .

Utterly ridiculous. And perhaps helps explain the drop in visitors to Las Vegas as shown by Harry Reid passenger numbers from January to April this year.

Wow that’s some wild stats there.  I’ve deffo noticed less euros this trip at my tables (though Mad Turk did try to sit on my big O ticket without a seat card yesterday) but the real big one is the lack of Canadians unsurprisingly.
Overall it’s difficult to gage it generally outside of poker as to me it always seems busy in the casinos

Yes, I agree, all the Casinos do seem busy.

Perhaps the explanation is that US visitors to Vegas are up, while foreign visitors - Canadians especially - are down, understandably so, as you noted.

Citizens from multiple countries are of course now blanket-banned from travelling to the USA. This is making a mess of the World Cup too, with the Iran Team having to fly in & out on the days of their games.

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?

I didn’t see no. But it’s more common than you think for a random to have a good run in any tournament.
On the hotel note , they cocked my reservation when they combined them and had me checking out tomorrow instead of next Wednesday
Guy on desk was brash like it was my fault (and this was in diamond check in), no apology - “you’ll have to come back when she’s working tomorrow”
Ok tomorrow morning I ask ?
“No sir shes in from 4pm”
Me - that’s not much use if I’m checking out tomorrow , is there anyone else that can sort this ?
“Yes come back at 11am and someone should be able to help” - 10:20am

So a 4th visit to the desk an hour later and it’s the same guy but he’s sorted it and was all nice and professional that time - got me grumpy for an hour lol , but finally sorted , rant over .

Utterly ridiculous. And perhaps helps explain the drop in visitors to Las Vegas as shown by Harry Reid passenger numbers from January to April this year.

Wow that’s some wild stats there.  I’ve deffo noticed less euros this trip at my tables (though Mad Turk did try to sit on my big O ticket without a seat card yesterday) but the real big one is the lack of Canadians unsurprisingly.
Overall it’s difficult to gage it generally outside of poker as to me it always seems busy in the casinos

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?

I didn’t see no. But it’s more common than you think for a random to have a good run in any tournament.
On the hotel note , they cocked my reservation when they combined them and had me checking out tomorrow instead of next Wednesday
Guy on desk was brash like it was my fault (and this was in diamond check in), no apology - “you’ll have to come back when she’s working tomorrow”
Ok tomorrow morning I ask ?
“No sir shes in from 4pm”
Me - that’s not much use if I’m checking out tomorrow , is there anyone else that can sort this ?
“Yes come back at 11am and someone should be able to help” - 10:20am

So a 4th visit to the desk an hour later and it’s the same guy but he’s sorted it and was all nice and professional that time - got me grumpy for an hour lol , but finally sorted , rant over .

Utterly ridiculous. And perhaps helps explain the drop in visitors to Las Vegas as shown by Harry Reid passenger numbers from January to April this year.

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?

I didn’t see no. But it’s more common than you think for a random to have a good run in any tournament.
On the hotel note , they cocked my reservation when they combined them and had me checking out tomorrow instead of next Wednesday
Guy on desk was brash like it was my fault (and this was in diamond check in), no apology - “you’ll have to come back when she’s working tomorrow”
Ok tomorrow morning I ask ?
“No sir shes in from 4pm”
Me - that’s not much use if I’m checking out tomorrow , is there anyone else that can sort this ?
“Yes come back at 11am and someone should be able to help” - 10:20am

So a 4th visit to the desk an hour later and it’s the same guy but he’s sorted it and was all nice and professional that time - got me grumpy for an hour lol , but finally sorted , rant over .

11 mins is a good time over 5k

["Keeping On Keeping On".]

Lastly, one that was quite a hard (but worthwhile) read, Alan Bennett's self-styled "Keeping On Keeping On".

He is a very curious individual, a staunch & proud Yorkshireman, and lives a most odd life. Clever bloke, with super-strong political views & a wonderful sense of observational humour.

It's a Diary actually, & I love reading Diaries. I have no real interest in politics and yet three political diaries top the list - Alan Clark (3 volumes), Tony Benn & Margaret Thatcher.

Ignoring easily the most entertaining one, Alan Clark, because he was a proper lovable scoundrel & a thoroughly nasty piece of work, (and who met a quite dreadful ending in life) the Diaries of Benn & Thatcher have, of course, polar opposite views. But whatever side of politics you sit, in those days politicians were a lot different, much less corrupt, & genuine politicians & they are terrific reads.

["Secrets From A Life At Risk"]

On a totally different subject, next was "Secrets From A Life At Risk".

Billy Walters is the topic, arguably the most successful sports better of yesteryear. (The likes of Tony Bloom & co in modern times probably exceeds Billy's exploits).

It's quite a tale, & he ended up in prison, arguably thanks to Phil Mickelson who emerges from the book with very little credit indeed.

It all ended well though, Mr Trump Pardoned him & he ended up stunningly wealthy & became a great philantrropist.

["A Very Stable Genius"]

You'd struggle to guess the subject of the first one which carries the title "A Very 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....