Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[kinboshi]

Comedy hand at The EPT, in the £1k Sidey, which is worth some £67k to the winner.

Toby Lewis gets it in, in a 3 way coup. His opponents BOTH have Aces. And Toby binked the Q.

He's double average now.

Assuming Toby had QQ?

From twitter:

Lol might run too good! Get QQ in v AA and AA obv river Qball lol. Double ave 20 left

[tikay]

I must be getting old - I was absolutely shattered last night. But the sun is shining today, a gorgeous morning, & I'm ready to do it again. I must be mad, but I find work very exciting, as well as soothing, in an odd way.

I arrived 40 minutes late for my Noon call-time at the EPT yesterday, & that stressed me out.

The Metropole location works well though, very reminiscent of the Hotel Venues they often use in Mainland Europe.

The EPT is MASSIVE now. It was always going to succeed, & I said as much after the first, in Barca, all those years ago. Well done 'Stars, & Mr Duthie. The only worry is the amount of people it takes to run, I know Stars have pots of money, but jeez, they have some staff now.

My Media Contact was a guy called Scott, who was amazingly helpful, and looked about 12. MBN.

We got a whole bunch of great interviews. Danny N is such a pro, too, ever helpful, very Ambassadorial. Liv looked made up in every sense, quite right too, it's a right result for her. Very impressed indeed with Jon Duhammel (sp), what a top lad. About to be very rich, too.

Saw a whole bunch of ex Sky Poker peeps - Nick Wealthall, Michelle Orpe (who's had a makeover & looked splendid), Emma Crowe (used to be my Boss at SP), Chris Cohen, Alan Rodgers, & James Hartigan, of course, who still works for both.

Great to see Toby win, what a prospect he is.

We got done at about 6pm, & I took the tube back to Heathrow, then the 2 mile drive to my hotel took another hour in a torrential rainstorm.

I had to play 3 Tourneys Online, & was an hour late for the first, & Sods Law ensured I did best in the one that started latest, so it past was midnight before I logged off.

All good though. Not the happiest day in personal terms, but work is the greatest pain-killer ever invented.

[tikay]

In the office bright & early today, 6am I think.

Had to buy some new bins, managed to lose my reading ones yesterday. That's the third pair I've lost in 6 months. I suppose I should get one of those bits of string that holds bins round your neck, but they make wearers look so old.

Off to the EPT again now. Park the car at Hatton Cross (£9), train ticket (£7.50), much cheaper & less stressful than driving, or a cab.

I am due to finish today's interviews early, 3.30pm I believe, & just as well, as it gets complicated after that.

At 8pm tonight, SP have asked me to play their big Monthly £220 Tourney, which gets televised on Sky Sports, that starts at 8pm. I guess it will include a few live phone-ins to the Show, too. It's incredibly embarrassing to have my bad plays televised, then have to (attempt to) justify them on the Show, but it is what it is, I don't make myself out to be anything that I'm not, I just grind away like a super-duper-nit. I don't lose money at poker, though, & most would do well to match that. In fact, I play miles within my means, just small stuff mainly, & I love it. No pressure, just fun. That's what poker is supposed to be, I think - fun.

As soon as I exit tonight's tourney, I'm off to Les Ambassadeurs Club. Judging by the website, ( http://www.lesambassadeurs.com/ ) it's the poshest Casino I've ever been to, with the possible exception of The Casino de Paris in Monte Carlo, & one in Moscow whose name I forget. I'll be SO uncomfy there, in my dickie-bow & all that nonsense, & with all the posh people, but it is what it is, it has to be done, I'm committed, & representing SP.

I've had to book a room at the Metropole tonight to allow all this to work, so that was gg £200, & the outfit is gonna set me back as much again I fancy, so that's £400 down the swanee. And there's the irony.

Irony? It's in aid of Charity - the Variety Club, (Sunshine Coaches etc - an amazing organisation, check out their Website, http://www.varietyclub.org.uk/ ), so £400 I could have donated, I've spent in making it happen. Which is just crazy. Tonight is the "Founder Members Evening", as we set off on the long road to raise £15 million (!) for GOSH.

But not as crazy as the fact that I'm the "prize", or more correctly, an evening of my poker mentoring. And who gets me? The winner of the Poker Tourney.

I know, I know. Go figure, what a crazy world we live in.

[gatso]

what does 2nd place get? 2 evenings of your mentoring?

[Karabiner]

The "outfit" is only about £50 from Moss Bros. according to their website. May I suggest the "Cambridge"

And whilst we're on the subject of all this money you're squandering;

Why are you paying for trains when you could get the bus for free?  

[tikay]

The "outfit" is only about £50 from Moss Bros. according to their website. May I suggest the "Cambridge"

And whilst we're on the subject of all this money you're squandering;

Why are you paying for trains when you could get the bus for free?  

PLEASE tell me the Bus Pass age is 65.

[tikay]

Interviewed Vanessa Selbst. What a fascinating individual. VERY bright, very bubbly.

I thought I'd establish common ground by discussing how "we" (us poker players.....) 4 bet, & she looked aghast. "4 betting is old hat, 6 bets with 5 high are bottom of the range stuff now". I hastily agreed, yes, yes, of course.

She's studying Law, at Yale. Don't get much cooler than that - Pro Poker for a living, WSOP bracelet & all, & studying Law at Yale. She's a Brooklyn kid, & when I mentioned the accent, claiming to recognize it (I learned from Wiki she was a Brooklyn girl), she claimed not to have an accent.

Liked her, immensely, fun kid, with, I fancy, a stratospheric IQ. Like to see her & Jen Mason, or Tighty, have a debate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanessa_Selbst

[MereNovice]

Vanessa Rousso also studies law at Miami University.

[tikay]

Vanessa Rousso also studies law at Miami University.

I'm quite surprised to hear that, Vince. Not sure why I'm surprised, but we build up mental images of people, & that does not fit, somehow.

Good to hear, though.

I think Barry Greenstein is next up on the list. Was he the Symantec (sp?) software? guy?

[MereNovice]

Vanessa Rousso also studies law at Miami University.

I'm quite surprised to hear that, Vince. Not sure why I'm surprised, but we build up mental images of people, & that does not fit, somehow.

Good to hear, though.

I think Barry Greenstein is next up on the list. Was he the Symantec (sp?) software? guy?

Yes, as I'm sure you know, he worked as a software developer for Symantec.

[GreekStein]

When do these people actually study!? Seems like they just trot the globe playin poker.

Always been impressed by her play though. (Selbst, not Rousso)

[Claw75]

The "outfit" is only about £50 from Moss Bros. according to their website. May I suggest the "Cambridge"

And whilst we're on the subject of all this money you're squandering;

Why are you paying for trains when you could get the bus for free? 

PLEASE tell me the Bus Pass age is 65.

Free bus travel anywhere in England for eligible older and disabled people

What is ‘eligible age’
If you were born before 6 April 1950, you are eligible from your 60th birthday.

This clearly doesn't apply to you though as you were born in 1962 or sumfink innit

[kinboshi]

The "outfit" is only about £50 from Moss Bros. according to their website. May I suggest the "Cambridge"

And whilst we're on the subject of all this money you're squandering;

Why are you paying for trains when you could get the bus for free? 

PLEASE tell me the Bus Pass age is 65.

Free bus travel anywhere in England for eligible older and disabled people

What is ‘eligible age’
If you were born before 6 April 1950, you are eligible from your 60th birthday.

This clearly applies to you though as you were born in 1862 or sumfink innit

FYP

[The Camel]

Interviewed Vanessa Selbst. What a fascinating individual. VERY bright, very bubbly.

I thought I'd establish common ground by discussing how "we" (us poker players.....) 4 bet, & she looked aghast. "4 betting is old hat, 6 bets with 5 high are bottom of the range stuff now". I hastily agreed, yes, yes, of course.

She's studying Law, at Yale. Don't get much cooler than that - Pro Poker for a living, WSOP bracelet & all, & studying Law at Yale. She's a Brooklyn kid, & when I mentioned the accent, claiming to recognize it (I learned from Wiki she was a Brooklyn girl), she claimed not to have an accent.

Liked her, immensely, fun kid, with, I fancy, a stratospheric IQ. Like to see her & Jen Mason, or Tighty, have a debate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanessa_Selbst

She might be all those things away from the table, but at the table she is whiny and bad tempered.

You would think someone as successful as her would take bad beats with grace and humour, but not a bit of it.

[tikay]

When do these people actually study!? Seems like they just trot the globe playin poker.

Always been impressed by her play though. (Selbst, not Rousso)

She is on a 2 year sabbatical, apparently, & she returns to her studies next year.