Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[Big_D]

Loving Ralph's new diary.

[George2Loose]

No Sky Main event qualifiers this year?

[celtic]

No Sky Main event qualifiers this year?

They decided to send chompy out there and are filming a documentary about him etc. prob end up being a 5 minute special.

[Chompy]

Noodle(s) Asia is tez now compared too three or four years ago.

It's now really greasy and Red8 at Wynn is a million times better. Swerve Noodles Asias at all costs imo.

Chili dogs at Bunion's are awesome.

No Sky Main event qualifiers this year?

They decided to send chompy out there and are filming a documentary about him etc. prob end up being a 5 minute special.

In as long as one of the top two analysts are doing the interviewing.

[tikay]

It seems that you don't know if a healthy balanced diet at regular intervals during the day would make you feel better as you've never actually tried one.

When in Vegas I always go for the two meals a day routine, starting with a late breakfast (I love American breakfast) around 11am and then a decent meal in the evening such as Noodles Asia if I'm near The V, or a prime rib special at The Nugget.

Surely that's as simple as sticky buns, burgers and chips.

Well when you say "healthy balanced diet", all things considered, I'm remarkably healthy, & as I posted earlier, I've never suffered from ill-health, & I doubt anyone can say they only had one day off work through sickness in 53 years.

But I do take the point.

The thing is, I almost NEVER do sit-down meals. I prefer to eat "on the move", or whilst doing something else. I just never really took to social dining, or sitting down to a meal.

Sticky buns, pork pies, crisps & choc ices can be eaten on the go, so to speak.

I suppose, in time, some concessions to old age may need to be made, it certainly seems to have served you well.

Touche!

I played the worst golf yesterday in the Saturday Medal, embarassingly poor, barely breaking 100. It came as bit of a shock after playing quite well on Thursday too.

All this on a balanced and healthy diet too, apart from the bottle of wine each day.

The sole crumb of comfort to be garnered after my horror-round was getting on the bathroom scales and seeing 11st 13lbs displayed, the first time I have broken 12st this year.

How long have you been playing golf for, Ralph, and where and when did you start, in your junior years?

My mum decided to take up golf when I was fourteen years old which was a coincidence as I had bought an old set of clubs from a kid at school for five shillings the previous term and used to hack a ball around the field known as the school golf course.

Those clubs were really old, some even had hickory shafts and I ended up selling one of them a "putter clique" to the professional at Ham Manor GC for £2 about a year later and feeling rather smug. It was probably worth a fortune, but I digress..

I came home from school for the summer holidays and mum had joined Roehampton GC and I became a junior member and received some coaching from Syd Scott and his assistants. I suppose I was a bit of a natural although quite small for my age as within a couple of years I was playing off a handicap of 12 and actually won the Roehampton Junior Open with a score of 81.

When I was almost seventeen my parents decided to join Coombe Hill GC near Kingston. My dad had now taken up the game too and had the bug, whilst my mum was an extremely social animal and the Jewish golf club with more than a smattering of showbiz celebrity members was right up her alley.

Jimmy Tarbuck, Sean Connery, Stanley Baker and Harry Secombe were just a few of the names that spring to mind, and the car park was littered with Rolls-Royces, Bentleys and the occasional Aston-Martin. It was seriously up-market.

I loved it there and my golf continued to improve...

To be continued.

Coombe Hill was the very course I visited yesterday.

I had not been aware of the Coombe Hill Estate, & never realised how posh & exclusive it was. I think £7 million is the average price. The houses are nicely set back, & there is an abundance of greenery.

Got home, went googling, & it appears that Jimmy Tarbuck still lives there, as did Dwight Eisenhower, who lived there during WWII, too, bang next to the Golf Course. You may have seen his place.

Annabel Croft also resides there. I got to know her a few years back via work, we got chatting at a do, & I got an invite to a Barbecue at her place, but I swerved it, as I don't enjoy barbecues at all. Wish I'd gone now, if only to ogle at how the other half live.

Where did you live at the time?

How much was Membership, & the joining fee? Must have been a bit steep, surely?

Make sure you continue the golf tales.


These strike any memory chords?

I've played Coombe several times since the halcyon days of my youth, most recently with Barry Disler my golfing buddy from Leicester the year before last. One extra benefit of being a member of a Jewish golf society is that we can actually get "courtesy" of the Jewish courses if we don't do it too often, ask nicely and give them some notice.


I know that putting green well and from the ouside the club-house has hardly changed at all although that water-hazard in front of the par-5 15th hole (Jimmy Tarbuck's house has a garden gate leading onto the 15th fairway) is a lot bigger than the mere ditch that it used to be.

the middle picture is of the 18th green which has a large flagstaff behind it. The 18th hole is about 420 yards long and you have to drive into a dip and about half-way up the other side if you hit a good one, leaving a blind second shot. On the 18th tee the wise golfer takes note of where the flag is in relation to that flagstaff so that he has an idea of where to hit his approach shot.

I've been playing golf well over 50 years and for the last half century I've had a single-figure handicap but I've never achieved the golfer's much-prized hole-in-one, however I did hole a 4-iron second shot at that 18th hole at Coombe Hill for an eagle two, not a bad consolation prize.

After joining Coombe Hill the first big club competition that I won was the Danny Kaye Trophy in 1966(gulp!). Danny Kaye was apparently a member in the 1950's as was Bing Crosby according to legend but more likely imo a frequent visitor when in town.

I have the beautiful solid-silver miniature Danny Kaye trophy in my cabinet at home in the company of several others that I managed to garner when I was able to resume my hot streak in the late 1960's, but my golfing career was seemingly nipped in the bud when the troublesome teenager that I was in the rebeltastic 1960's got shipped out of town to go and stay with my Uncle Eric in St Louis Missouri.

I guess that my parents thought that the Mid-West of the USA was far enough away from anywhere for me to get into much trouble, but after a few months with my uncle rather like a teenaged moth I eventually got drawn to the flame that was San Francisco in 1967, The Summer of Love..

To be continued..

Loving it Ralph, thank you, keep it coming.

Hard to visualise it 50 years on, but Danny Kaye was about a big a star - worldwide - as it was possible to be back in that era.

He was a most accomplished aviator, & was on the board of the Learjet Cororation (now part of Bombadier I believe).

He was co-owner of a Baseball Team, too, Seattle Mariners.

The words to three songs were the first songs I ever knew the words of - "All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth", "Thumbelina", & of course "Ugly Duckling".

Ugly Duckling is a simple ditty with simple lyrics, but was a great metaphor of life to us youngsters back in the day. All these years on & I still know every word. Think it got played on Children's Favourites every Saturday morning, on the Light Programme.

"Childrens Favourites" was a big thing then, & was hosted by "Uncle Mac".

He always started with "Hello Children, everywhere".

We don't have "children" these days, they are grown-ups @ 5, & the word "children" is almost deemed offensive & condesceding to youngsters. I'm not a child. 





More stories, please.  

[tikay]

No Sky Main event qualifiers this year?

Wow, Mr Bedi in my Diary, I'm honoured!

Sadly not, George, we did not do it last year, either.

On a personal note, it's rather sad for me, as "hosting" a bunch of qualifiers in Vegas, mostly first timers & micro limit players, who have never done Vegas before, was the highlight of my work year, I adored it. I had a sort of method, don't try & get them all together alll the time, just be there for them when they need you, but encourage them to get out & about, & invite them to various cardrooms to go play little Tourneys together. It worked wonderfully, & I have made so many good friends on that gig.

The Business wanted to do it this year, but there were some serious regulatory obstacles to overcome, mainly "promoting overseas gaming", which was why in previous years we never advertised or promoted it as "play the WSOP ME", but instead "win a Vegas Holiday". The GC advises against the promotion of overseas gaming, & with the new GC Licences being issued this year, it's best to be squeaky clean, those licences are worth - literally - billions.

It's also quite tricky in a tightly managed large Corporation such as BSKYB where even taxicab fares over £20 have to be signed off to send a petty cash request to Finance.

"I'd like $100,000 in cash please, send it to a casino in Las Vegas"".

"$100,000? What would that be for?"

"To go play poker in Las Vegas".

"Oh really?"

Try getting THAT past the Auditors & Accountants.

Another factor was the Sky Poker UKPC.

With the 6-Max scheduled for August, when the chance came to do a UKPC 6 monthly instead of annually, it clashed with the WSOP qualification period. Doing both would likely result in both falling short.

They can measure the benefit to the Business of ANY Promo. And the Sky Poker UKPC was one of the best things (of it's type - Live Poker) the Business had ever done. The measureable effect was x-teen times better than, say, SPT, (which may return) & certainly much better in profile raising & Acquisition (acquisition being the key to everything) than Viva Las Vegas.

Online Poker Businesses do all these things - or not - with good reason.

There was an interesting thread on The Rail, last week in which, almost without exception, poker players resented the impositions of Live Poker Tours, TV Hole Cards & the like. "They give us nothing, why should we give them anything?"

I could have cried at the ignorance & lack of understanding in that debate, but as per these days, I chose not to get involved, as its so hard to debate in a civil manner online, it always descends to "effing morons"  & that nut lowest common denom of all debates, "joke".

The fact is, players NEED the Tours, & the Tours (or their Sponsors) NEED the players. It is a 2 way street, make no mistake.

If the Sponsors cannot have their pound of flesh, & the Tours stop, Prize Pools will reduce greatly, as will Guarantees. How can that be good for poker players OR poker sites? We need each other, so we ought to make a token effort to understand where each party is coming from. Adjust things, yes, stop them, no. Almost nothing in life is black & white. 

Sure, they can be a nuisance, signing disclaimers, showing hole cards & all that stuff. And yes, it's quite possible that it is not perfectly in balance, the thing between players & Sponsors. But the suggestion that these Tours are a hardship to players is a total nonsense. Both parties need each other, & both parties are in it for their own gain. If you don't like the impositions, don't play them. But everyone does.

There was talk of boycotting The Venetian this year, too, but I've never seen The Venetian as busy as it was this year. It's all just talk talk......

Anyway, moving on.....

How are the kids, they must be nearly grown out of nappies now?   

And Lady Shelley?

No Vegas for you this year either?

One thing I noticed with some sadness in Vegas this year was the relative lack of Brits.

Hope to see you at the 6-Max next month. I think it'll be tremendous. 

[sonour]

Keep posting Ralph. How about a diary ?

I believe Bandit was in San Francisco in the summer of 1967.

[tikay]

Keep posting Ralph. How about a diary ?

I believe Bandit was in San Francisco in the summer of 1967.

Oh my word......


 

We all wish he'd do a Diary, but for now, he's on the OAP's Diary, so that's better than nothing. For those unaware, Ralph is 72.

[tikay]

Enjoying your reports.

a) Do Sky Poker mind you mentioning Pokerstars in every blog, or is it that they are so enormous now that it seems to futile to pretend that they don't exist?
b) How many poker players do you think the WSOP attracts every year? I know there are lots of people there who never play a single WSOP event, or who never even play a tournament. How does it compare to the convention of jewellers do you reckon? I've got a friend who's going to Vegas in a week, and he's too daft to even understand the rules of poker. My mental image of Vegas is that the entire place turns into pokertown for the duration, but I guess it's just another drop in the bucket over there.

Hi skippy,

Better late than never, but better never late.

I answered "Part 2" of that question in a timely manner, but not the first part. Vegas is so time consuming, but I want to reply to all Posts.

I've got to finish my Vegas End of Term Report, but I want to answer this one first.

I don't think I mentioned PS in EVERY Blog, but yes, I did mention them a fair bit. Don't see how I could not really, they abso dominate Online Poker. And yes, it would be futile to deny that.

Did the Business mind?

Well they never said as much, in fact, in what was an exceedingly rare event, the Head Honcho wrote to me & said the Blogs were spot on, and they are not a Company generally given to overly praising staff, especially me. They re-tweeted most my Blogs, too, after a little subtle nudging.

Also, I had taken a month's leave from work, & had agreed that, & it was originally decided I would not be paid in my absence. (I am not salaried or directly employed). I just enjoy writing from Vegas in my own little left-field way, & would have done it paid or not. 

As it happened, when I returned to work, they told me they would pay me part of my monthly fee despite my absence, which was a nice surprise. In fairness, I also did 11 or 12 Live Phone-Ins to the Show, "looked after" the Forum such as I could, & wrote my Bluff stuff.   

So no, I don't think they minded.

There is some lack of understanding amongst some (not you) on the whole matter.

PS are NOT a competitor to Sky Poker. Completely different target markets & products. Completely different.

The competitors are UK facing sites which have Online Sports Betting &/or Online Casinos.

These would be, say, Wm Hill, PP, 365, Boyles, etc etc. So I would NEVER mention thosein Blogs, as they really are competitors.

Online Poker on these sites is just a small part of the greater whole, MUCH smaller than the Online Sports Betting, say, but still a very important part of the multi-media jigsaw. The same applies to Online Bingo.

It's a fascinating business really, but much misunderstood.

Incidentally, if you peruse the Trade Media, you'll be aware that even the mighty PS have suffered badly (traffic) from the World Cup. It made a quite remarkable difference even to PS. In that respect, the UK facing Poker sites did rather better, thanks to the lacklustre efforts & early exit of England. Which was also good in some ways for the Sports Betting operations, though it would have been great for business if they had gone deep. But less good for poker. A proper virtuous circle.   

Apologies again for the delayed reply.

[Karabiner]

Keep posting Ralph. How about a diary ?

I believe Bandit was in San Francisco in the summer of 1967.

This is about as close as I'll get to a diary Lisa, but I'm pleased that a few people are enjoying my reminiscences. Did you ever play Coombe Hill?

I remember having a chat with Pete once over a glass of wine at the bar in Buzio's and we were trying to decide which of us had been the more wayward and who had had the more mis-spent youth.

We'll have to compare notes on "The Summer of Love" next time I see him.

[tikay]

Keep posting Ralph. How about a diary ?

I believe Bandit was in San Francisco in the summer of 1967.

This is about as close as I'll get to a diary Lisa, but I'm pleased that a few people are enjoying my reminiscences. Did you ever play Coombe Hill?

I remember having a chat with Pete once over a glass of wine at the bar in Buzio's and we were trying to decide which of us had been the more wayward and who had had the more mis-spent youth.

We'll have to compare notes on "The Summer of Love" next time I see him.

Ralph,

Seriously for a moment, I've had several PM's asking me to encourage you to write more of that sort of stuff, & of course several notables (& Vinny) said as much on here.

It's a wonderful read, beautifully composed with a delicate touch. Keep it coming please. 

I'll be particularly keen to read of any dalliances you may or may not have experienced.

[RED-DOG]

Hey Ralph. You can't call a youth mis-spent when people still want to hear about it 40 years down the line.

[RED-DOG]

I'm just jealous of all the hits your generating on this otherwise lacklustre diary.

[tikay]

Hey Ralph. You can't call a youth mis-spent when people still want to hear about it 40 years down the line.

40?

[RED-DOG]

Hey Ralph. You can't call a youth mis-spent when people still want to hear about it 40 years down the line.

40?

Artistic license.