APAT Cardiff .... From the rail.

[Colchester Kev]

I set off from sunny Colchester at 1pm on Friday for the long journey to the land of Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey and countless abused sheep !! Despite major problems on the M25 my journey was going well until I reach that bloody bridge... I see signs that say "cars £5.10" !!   F*"k Me its only a quid to get across Dartford bridge .... anyway, whilst on said bridge my mobile rings and i see it is Rudders, The convo goes ..

Rudders
"Hi Kev, what time you getting in, are we having a few beers"?

Me
"F*"k^ng £5.10 to get into this dump, I hope charlotte church is waiting at the other end with her norks out, and i hope its free to escape on the way home"

Rudders
"Kev, let us know when you are leaving and the whole of wales will PAY you to get out"

We make plans to meet up for a bevvy or several and i carry on towards cardiff, Now this is where it gets tricky, being a bloke i have sketchy directions and they are bloody useless, but i know the general location of the hotel and drive around for a few miles but cant find the bloody place ... but behold, I see glowing blue light of a casino and head in there for directions. I ask the receptionist, she has no idea where it is, she makes a few calls and still no joy.... Then this booming welsh voice (think windsor Davies in it aint half hot mum) booms out "COLCHESTER KEV ... I thought you would be older" I turn around to see Sofa,,,,,,,,king for the first time, and reply "Yeah, and I thought you would be harder" !!  A handshake later and sofa gives me directions to the hotel which was just up the bloody road !!

Hotel located and the first people i bump into are Kinboshi and his lovely lady Michelle, we trade insults and arrange to meet back down in the lobby in half hour to go for a meal. So Half an hour later, im showered, shaved, and changed and Myself, Jane, Kin and Michelle head off to this great Japanese restaurant in the bay that Kin has been raving about. We arrive by taxi and look around for this japanese restaurant only to find it Closed down a while ago !!!  So we decide on a Chinese instead (MUG KIN !!)

Meal, saki, numerous beers and a few JD's later and we decided to go to the casino to meet a few of the early arrivals and get more ale !!. We meet up with MickyP, Eyeofsauron and a few others, sorry guys I was half gone by that time and names have slipped my mind ... Sofa,,,,K,,,ing was in as well and we had a good chat and got the beers in ... a few minutes later, Darren from behind the bar walks up with an ice bucket and some glasses and announces that Sofa has got a bottle of Champers in for us ...top bloke lovely gesture and very well received.  I phone Tightend and Tikay and they are on their way into the casino... and soon enough its like a mini blonde bash in there, the craic is superb and the banter is in full flow, Paul & Charmaine, Rookie, Tom Tom, Ericstoner, Jane, Kin, Michelle etc etc... by about 1am we decide to have a 14 person comp at £10 a head...7 to each table and despite vigorous protests from Charmaine, paul throws another tenner in the pot and we finally persuade Char to play .... Again, fantastic banter and a continual supply of ale made the whole thing a proper laugh, Sean the cardroom manager was great as well made us all feel really welcome and was a top bloke. After knocking Grandad out in 3rd i was heads up with Paul ... I think it took me 3 hands to school the mug and VICTORY WAS MINE !!!!  The 1st prize went a little way to paying some of the bar bill, but what a fantastic night, and that was just the Friday !!

To be continued ....

[taximan007]

Cant wait, Nice one

[M3boy]

Definately need a seperate thread for part 2

[KingPoker]

Get the rest F*cking done!!!!! Good read thus far!!!!!!!!!!!!

[KingPoker]

I knew there was no f'in japanese restaurant down the bay!!!!!!!!!

[kinboshi]

Great stuff Kev.

I did say that I hadn't been to the Japanese restaurant since last time I'd been to the Bay - which was about 4 years ago.  There's still a website for the place:  http://www.izakaya-japanese-tavern.co.uk/  - shame it closed down months ago.

The Chinese was pretty good anyway - even though me and Kev ordered the same main course, as did Michelle and Jane.  More synchronicity. 

Anyway, got a tournament to lose, I'll let you carry on.

[Ginger]

The Chinese was pretty good anyway - even though me and Kev ordered the same main course, as did Michelle and Jane.  More synchronicity. 

Crispy dry chilli beef - Yum!, guaranteed to be fantastic wherever you get it from, until Cardiff lol.

Good stuff so far Kev, keep it coming.

[kinboshi]

The Chinese was pretty good anyway - even though me and Kev ordered the same main course, as did Michelle and Jane.  More synchronicity. 

Crispy dry chilli beef - Yum!, guaranteed to be fantastic wherever you get it from, until Cardiff lol.

Good stuff so far Kev, keep it coming.

Yep, both Michelle and Jane were waxing lyrical about how you can never go wrong with crispy shredded beef....right up to the point they taste Cardiff's finest crispy shredded beef....

The Malaysian curry (or whatever it was) was a far wiser option.  The octopus and squid starters were spot on too.

[Colchester Kev]

So .... Saturday morning and we make our way out of stalag 17 ( the only hotel i have ever been in with BUNK BEDS, A double at the bottom and a single bunk on top) it had spray on artex on the wall ... i must have brushed againgst it a couple of times because i woke up with no skin on my elbows !!!

We made our way to the casino and once there made straight for the bar for coffee, I must be getting old, my recovery times after a night on the lash are certainly getting longer.
Met up with tikay, Des and Rich as they had their little table set up by the entrance and soon enough the place was full of people with hopes and aspirations of finishing up with the trophy and the EPT seat... thats the beauty of poker, everyone starts on a level footing, and the atmosphere was tense but friendly....

The most moving event of the weekend was about to unfold before my eyes, Brendan (Eric Stoner) made his way into the casino and not a wheelchair in sight, he steadily made his way to the registration desk on crutches and i dont mind telling you that there were a few butch men with a lump in their throat and a quivering bottom lip at that moment, i was genuinely moved and felt honoured to share that moment with Brendan.

Tikay approached me a few mins before the comp was about to start, and told me that the dealers from Walsall were running late and asked if i could deal a table until they arrived ... no problem, It would keep me occupied for the first few levels of the comp, and i was too hungover to start drinking again anyway.

The table i was to deal on had Brendan and Paul (In the belly) on it, and a host of other characters, there was some great banter on the table and everyone was in good spirits. After about 2 orbits, i had nailed the players on the table... I got the first player to get busted on the table correct and also the one most likely to get busted on a bluff .... was very interesting to observe a table as a dealer, because the tells you pick up are amazing.

Soon enough the dealers arrived and I was back to railing duties and wandered round the tables saying hello to numerous blondes.... It was an amazing atmosphere, competitive hard fought poker played in the friendliest spirit imaginable, it was really something else. I have been to dozens of festival events and such, and always have a good time and enjoy the banter, but this was something else no rubdowns, no table bashing, a round of applause for everyone that got busted ... it really was special, kind of like a blonde bash really.

Later on in the day i got to meet King Poker and his lovely young lady Karen (with a K .. although there is no K in the welsh alphabet she insists that she is welsh ...although its obvious she wishes she was english ) she is far too good for KP and it was no surprise when she told me that KP didnt let her see the forum, so i told her about his swearing and general filthy talk on here ... I bet she reads it now LOL.

Kin went quite early (standard) so I sat with him and the lovely michelle for a while and we were soon joined by Jane who had no luck whatsoever, split pots where she was a mile ahead pre flop etc etc ... neverends.

Sofa K,,,,,ing was one of the first to exit, and tikay announcing on the microphone "Taxi for James Fisher" led to a ringing of laughter around the casino.  And while i am talking about sofa, i must add that he was just an amazingly great laugh all weekend, he can take a bit of stick to be fair, but isnt shy about giving it back double .... we were having a bit of banter and i offered him a fight, he told me to go out to the car park and start warming up, I replied that while i was out there he should phone his mates for back up .... his reply  ??  " Listen mate, im gonna cut you in 2 and fight the pair of you" LOLOL absolute quality, he had us all in stitches the whole weekend, and the cigarette trick will always stay in my memory, He lights a cig and takes a good few puffs, then puts in in his mouth and spits it 10 feet into the air, he catches it wrong way round in his mouth (lit end first) then eats the fkin thing !!! amazing stuff and that was just one of his multitude of gags and tricks thet reduced us to tears of laughter over the wekend.

As far as the poker goes, it was all background stuff to me, as i was on a jolly up and was only there for the craic and the bevvy, at the break we decided we couldnt wait around at the buffet so Kin, Michelle Jane and myself headed over to pizza hut where the debate over how people could possibly eat pizza with pineapple on continued ... i think i got my point across that it was just wrong, but no consensus was reached as Jane tucked into her 3rd slice of ham and pineapple pizza !!!!

Saturday came to a close with more bevvy and craic, and by the time we left the casino at around 2am, another fun filled day was over and i wondered if it could possibly get any better.....

To be continued ....

[Royal Flush]

where the debate over how people could possibly eat pizza with pineapple on continued

Don't fight it m8

[KingPoker]

MUSHROOMS FREAK ME OUT MORE ON A PIZZA!

[kinboshi]

MUSHROOMS FREAK ME OUT MORE ON A PIZZA!

You wouldn't believe, there were mushrooms and pineapples on the same pizza.  So it was really the room 101 of pizzas.

Mine on the other hand, was decorated with cajun chicken and jalapeños. 

[KingPoker]

Dunno bout the jalepenos but the chicken sounds good, you cant beat a good margherita!

Great read kev and your right, my missus is way too good for me! (just in case she has signed up to blonde)

[Rookie (Rodney)]

Margherita Pizza is the best there is.

[KingPoker]

Margherita Pizza is the best there is.

You know it!