Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[Machka]

Bollocks!

I've been posting on Tony's diary instead of mine.

Haha, now that made me laugh.

[RED-DOG]

Bollocks!

I've been posting on Tony's diary instead of mine.

Haha, now that made me laugh.

I'm making people laugh on Tony's diary now.

Great.

[tikay]

An absolutely beautiful morning here in London, clear blue sky, a gentle Spring chill in the air, & the aeroplanes low overhead coming into land at Heathrow.

Had a really lovely weekend, too, & I'm bursting with zing & zest today.

Next door will be booking my Vegas flight today, & my hotel, I will probably stay at The Rio for the duration, about a month, split 50/50 between play & "work", & The Rio suits me just fine in many ways.

Want to try & get up to DTD one day this week, maybe play a sidey, just to see the incredible atmo there, but I can't play the Main as I am working on Sunday, which is very much +ev.

The diet feel-good is really kicking in now, too.

Everything is so good, I just know some big black clouds must be lurking somewhere.

[RED-DOG]

Everything is so good, I just know some big black clouds must be lurking somewhere.

The other day, I was sitting with Mrs Red & the girls watching some or other tripe on the telly. They were chatting, laughing, smiling....  generally just being happy and beautiful.


At times like that, I fear the black cloud too, but I refuse to stay in it's shadow.

"Don't meet trouble halfway" Mrs red says, and she's right.

[tikay]

Everything is so good, I just know some big black clouds must be lurking somewhere.

The other day, I was sitting with Mrs Red & the girls watching some or other tripe on the telly. They were chatting, laughing, smiling....  generally just being happy and beautiful.


At times like that, I fear the black cloud too, but I refuse to stay in it's shadow.

"Don't meet trouble halfway" Mrs red says, and she's right.

She is, but I can't help it, Tom.  Life has mostly been wonderful to me, but I always seem to think "surely it can't last?". It's a sort of defence mechanism, to insure against when it happens.

When I was working, & the Chairman sent for me on a Friday, I always assumed the worst - Friday was "sacking day".

Assume the worst, then most of what happens is a lovely bonus.

[RED-DOG]

Lol. I know. It plays havoc with your nerves though.

[tikay]

'Stars to switch all high stakes cash games to "ZOOM"?

I'm not sure why, but this really surprised me. (Assuming it to be true).

Poker certainly is going through a period of huge change, thats for sure.

http://pokerfuse.com/news/poker-room-news/pokerstars-considering-zoom-only-tables-high-stakes/

[AndrewT]

'Stars to switch all high stakes cash games to "ZOOM"?

I'm not sure why, but this really surprised me. (Assuming it to be true).

High stakes games have been destroyed by bum-hunting. Zoom negates that as you have no say in who you sit with.

[TommyD]

'Stars to switch all high stakes cash games to "ZOOM"?

I'm not sure why, but this really surprised me. (Assuming it to be true).

High stakes games have been destroyed by bum-hunting. Zoom negates that as you have no say in who you sit with.

I don't think the switch will happen but Andrew is 100% correct.  The leak is probably a gambit to encourage some sort of play reg v reg at that level.

[mouth]

I "saw" this photo, just a shame I could not quite take it as well as I saw it!

Click to see full-size image.

More feckin birds everywhere I turn.

Actually, very nice pic. I feel an affinity with flamingos, always have, no idea why

[tikay]

Part of the reason I retired was, having given my all to my job for my whole life, I now wanted to be able to do stuff such as watch big sporting events on TV in their entirety, especially cricket (proper stuff, 5 day Tests, not ODI knockabouts sponsored by Argos). I used to just catch highlights, & the odd half hour, but that was it.

Last week, at last, I ticked one of those boxes, & watched all of the Masters Golf (all that was televised), & despite the long wait, & over-anticipation, I thought it was just wonderful. 

The players & spectators have a totally different moral code to footballers & football fans, the setting was magnificent, even if some of The Masters hype is a little sickly sweet, & the tournament was real theatre, with many twists & turns that could never be scripted. Every player was respected by the fans, too, there was none of the laughing & mocking when they messed up a shot. Lovely.

I enjoy televised Premiership Football, too, for completely different reasons, but that golf was different class.

[tikay]

Pre-tourney, the chatter was all “Tiger or Rory”, some could not see past one of those winning it. They both flattered only to deceive, after promising starts. Woods threw a strop or too, uttering unutterables on TV, & I believe he got a slap from the higher ups. Maybe football would be more his thing. Rory must have been gutted, but his interview afterwards was full of dignity.

As ever, The Masters began with the old-stagers teeing off, & we had the pleasure of seeing “The Big Three”, who I followed since my teens, all together, but looking oh-so-frail now. A great sadness in some ways, because we shall be very lucky to see those proper three gents together again, ever. 

We saw Tom Watson, too. Did golf ever have a greater ambassador?

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

Off we go. Stenson set off like a train, then derailed, then recovered, then crashed again.

And through all this, steady Lefty, Mickelson, just kept his head down & slowly played himself into serious contention. Thrice a winner here, the fans adore him. He has that sort of Princess Di “coy, head down, smiling humbly, ty ty” look all the time, as he touches his cap to acknowledge the endless ovations from his adoring crowd.

By the end of Day Three, he was poised, right there, & the golf chatter was all “Phil has this in the bag now”. And Phil does not implode, he is Mr Reliable & steady, with an unerring eye, & nerves of steel.

Until, that is, he hit a shot on a Par Three so bad it was difficult to believe. Then it got worse, as he delved – for the 2nd time in 24 hours – into the undergrowth to find his ball, aided by spectators galore. I can think of few sports where the audience “hunt the players ball”.

Then it just got silly, almost a van de Velde moment, & he hacked - & I mean hacked – not once, but TWICE, “cack-handed”. And minced both so much it hurt to watch. That’ll be a 6 then, a triple bogey no less, on a Par 3.  Within minutes, he seemed to be able to forget it, & just get on with the job, & in fact he played himself right back into it, coming up only slightly short. THAT is tilt-control at it's finest, terrific strength of character, mettle, & backbone.

And van de Velde also came into the mind when we watched Paul Lawrie, suddenly finding his game again, but not quite able to sustain it.

And we saw someone shank it. Yes, a proper shank, 100%. What?

[tikay]

Oosy – “one hit wonder” as some buffoon once called him - became a 2 hit wonder, & albatrossed a Par 5, the “Sarazen trick”, some said (true?) it had not been done in the Masters since 1935.  He so nearly won the whole damn thing, too, & must have been bitterly disappointed not to, but his post-game interview was so, so, dignified, respectful to Bubba, & to the Event. Lovely lovely.

Then we had Westwood, hitting GIR for fun. Not just GIR, but all round the pin, 6, 8 & 10 footers galore, but he could not buy a putt. His interview? Same again, rinse repeat.

[tikay]

It just got silly then. A chap with a swing worse than Arnie Palmers, & claiming never to have had a golf lesson in his life. Watch his swing, & you believe him, but he gets the job done – God knows how, but he does. Poor Bruce Harmer & Lord Alliss struggled to find the right words to describe it.

He has a great “headline” name to – “Bubba”. Or, afterwards, Bubba Blubber. No golfer ever reminded me so much of Seve as Bubba, thrash bang wallop, middle of the green, or right off the premises & in the Car Park. Except Augusta does not have such disgusting things as Car Parks near the course. They even bury all the TV cables. Detail…..

Bubba arrived at the 18th with the 2nd greatest prize in Golf his for the taking. Gotta be careful here, surely, take a bit off, plonk it gently down the middle, plop it in the green, putt, putt, par.

We watched, he lined it up, bit of a waggle, then BOOM, he thrashed the cover off the ball. His feet must have been nearly off the ground when he hit that ball, levitation golf, the new thing.

It ends up as a dead heat, a tie, after 4 days, & 72 holes, where every shot is a knife-edge between triumph & disaster, on narrow fairways, with greens slicker than ice.

All square after the first extra hole. On we go.

Then reality was suspended. Bubba bombed it way way into the trees. It’s over, Oosty has won.

The camera followed Bubba deep, deep, into the trees & undergrowth, he can’t see the green, he can only dabble it onto the fairway & hope that Oosty falls over. Its over, done, kaput.

I still can’t believe the shot he made, the ball contorted in flight like a contorty thing, & ended up 10 foot or so from the pin. How he do that?

He wins, & yet again, despite a truly life-changing moment, he was all modesty, humility, & dignity. He will entertain, thrill, & amaze us for many a long year, I hope.

And then he cried, he cried like a baby. Hands up who was not welling up to see him so humbled in that great moment?

I cannot tell you how much pleasure watching all that gave me.

I really ought to pay more attention to my bucket list, it’s full of things of wonder.