Asian Poker Classic - Goa

[NoflopsHomer]

Good luck Ben.

[Woodsey]

Try some of the coconut or cashew nut fenny which is a local drink that tasted like tequila and costs about 10p a shot, it will blow your head off!

[The Baron]

1.5 hour taxi - £6!!!

If you tip some cabbies they will be outside your hotel the next day waiting for you! It's crazy.

If you get any spare time check out the beaches at Palolem. Simply amazing at this time of year.

Great report.

[Tractor]

Looking forward to the next entry already.

i bet he is too, if it has anything to do with the air hostesses

[Redbull]

Good luck in the tourney Ben.

Goa's a fascinating place, quite unlike the rest of India I've been told. Having only visited Goa I can confer the crazy driving. My girlfriend and I were nearly killed many times swerving cows on those roads! We had the same taxi driver for the whole 2 weeks we were there - he'd drive us all over the State waiting patiently outside wherever we went. Like having a chauffeur but costing £15 a day. The Goan fish curries are great and if you can get to Palolem beach as Woodsey suggests it's well worth it. Give the Feni a miss though - it's rancid.

The shanty town poverty you see next to the huge mansions and 5* hotels can be quite depressing. It would have been even more difficult to deal with if I was a poker player back then. I guess as we're in the fortunate position to be risking a years wages to some of these people on the turn of a card it's good Karma to give a bit back. I'm sure a generous tip to the needy would go a long way. Even with a chunky tip everythings so cheap out there it's still a tenth of the price over here. Hope it goes well for you, oh and look out for the wild monkeys - they'll steal food out of your hands! Looking forward to the next entry...

[thetank]

 

[chrisbruce]

Nice post ben looking forward to the diary. Good luck in the main event, i played a tournament in Sheffield with you a while back.

[SuffolkPunch]

Rang up Marc Goodwin today, was not foreign ring tone so happy I was not waking him up due to him being in some strange time zone. Chatting away we were, then he announces he's in Goa. My mobile bill is going to thud on the doormat in a very heavy fashion this month. I'll reverse the charges next time!

[boldie]

Rang up Marc Goodwin today, was not foreign ring tone so happy I was not waking him up due to him being in some strange time zone. Chatting away we were, then he announces he's in Goa. My mobile bill is going to thud on the doormat in a very heavy fashion this month. I'll reverse the charges next time!

lol

[Royal Flush]

Rang up Marc Goodwin today, was not foreign ring tone so happy I was not waking him up due to him being in some strange time zone. Chatting away we were, then he announces he's in Goa. My mobile bill is going to thud on the doormat in a very heavy fashion this month. I'll reverse the charges next time!

It's ok you pay it as per normal and he pays the diffrence

[SuffolkPunch]

Rang up Marc Goodwin today, was not foreign ring tone so happy I was not waking him up due to him being in some strange time zone. Chatting away we were, then he announces he's in Goa. My mobile bill is going to thud on the doormat in a very heavy fashion this month. I'll reverse the charges next time!

It's ok you pay it as per normal and he pays the diffrence

Great, I'll ring him back!

[Sunday8pm]

Day 2 and 3

I am a muppet. Sorry for not posting yesterday but i was literally dead in bed. I spent 8 hours in the Sun on Wednesday with a minimal amount of suncream. As a result of this i now have a blistered body, worst parts being my chin and back. Oh well we live and learn.

The resort is really nice, good golf course (for a 9 hole), good restaurants, good leisure facilities etc etc.

Wednesday -

Well this is where it started to go wrong, im used to going pretty brown, but now i realise that you just dont go brown in 38C heat, you burn! Most of the day was spent by the pool, and a little bit swimming in the sea and lying on the beach. I did manage to earn a bit of money aswell.....By eating a sandy pineapple and a whole watermelon without using my hands. I am a muppet! Needless to say i spent a bit of time on the pan that night. I srated to realise i was burnt when everyone went for dinner and i didnt feel good so went to bed and got up at 11pm. I found the lads drinking some fancy plonk still in the restaurant so i had a water and we headed off to this 'secret' poker room as poker seems quite taboo in India. We ended up playing a couple of £100 sit and goes which Thewy cleaned up in if i remember rightly. Julian is the only poker player i know who can bet 150 into a 1000 chip pot on the turn heads up and make the other guy pass. Its so irritating! We ended up getting to bed around 5am and it took me a while to get to sleep as the pain was getting worse.

Thursday -

Got to be one of the worst days of my life. I woke up around 4pm. I kept having nightmares during the night and was really struggling to sleep, i was freezing cold but my bed was soaked with sweat. I was hallucinating in my room and it was pretty horrid. I pulled myself together and got some aloe vera from Keston and Joey and caked myself in it, unfortunatly it didn't make me normal again! All the poker players i have met so far out here have been awesome, all of them asking if im ok and genuinly being concerned which is quite uplifting. I just could hardly stand up so ended up going back to bed around 730pm and got up this morning at 8am (Goa is 5 hours ahead of UK). The Main Event is in 1 hour so i best go and make myself attractive and start thinking how to play poker. I was planning on playing a bit online here but to be honest the internet is so dodgy, still it doesn't stop Dubai and Grundy playing the biggest stakes online! Sickos

Peace and Love,

Ben

[Horneris]

haha. Sounds pretty funny mate. Good Luck in the Main Event. Ship it Home.

Keep the diaries coming, theyr ggggreat! 

[charmaine]

Try applying natural yogurt to the burnt areas , smells to high heaven but really does help  goodluck and use more sun block young man 

[LeKnave]

LOL, get better soon...ul need to be fit for the main event/bagging air hostess'

Another enjoyable read.