Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[the sicilian]

Before harking back to Vegas, I must just mention yesterday's adventure. A day at the seaside, of all things. Never thought I'd do any more of those, but it went rather well. Took the train, obv, which was jolly exciting. In fact we used 5 different trains. Is it possible to have more fun in a single day?

We went to Bournemouth, & I don't recall ever going there before. Beautiful sandy beach, immaculately clean everywhere, glorious weather, we even had a swim in the sea. 

Away from the beach, the town is a typical English seaside town - ageing, run down & a bit grotty in places. We went into House of Fraser, which, I suggest, had not changed in 50 years. How places like that keep going I've no idea.

The station is 103 miles from the beach, & we walked it both ways. FFS.

I suppose we chose the nut day, as the weather was glorious all day. On the downside, the place was absolutely heaving, way too many folks there.  Queues for ice creams, fish & chips, even (for the Ladies, but not the men) to have a wee.

Not really my cup of tea, but Gill loved every minute, so that ticked a box. Personally, a quiet cottage in the West Highlands of Scotland beats a beach all day every day.     

We even had our own Beach Hut. Proper posh, us.

Think Bournemouth is classed as a city, but I just see it as a nice sized town.

Only 20 minutes up the road from me, and I used to always enjoy a day/night out there.

Bet those huts go for some dough, for what they are.

Think a place needs a catherderal to be classed as a city ? not its size etc.. might be wrong but the dark bit at the back of my brain seems to ring a bell

[tikay]

Looks like all the returns have now been safely received, so we can put that to bed. If you have not been paid, let me know, but I think we are sorted.

We had a few hiccups - I forgot to pay Redbull, sent horsey's to a "dead" account (& got it back), was unsure where I was with scotty (sorted last night), &, don't even ask, but I sent MANTIS's return to a completely different fella. Groan.  Anyway, all sorted now, everyone paid afaik, so we can move on to more interesting stuff.

[tikay]

Before harking back to Vegas, I must just mention yesterday's adventure. A day at the seaside, of all things. Never thought I'd do any more of those, but it went rather well. Took the train, obv, which was jolly exciting. In fact we used 5 different trains. Is it possible to have more fun in a single day?

We went to Bournemouth, & I don't recall ever going there before. Beautiful sandy beach, immaculately clean everywhere, glorious weather, we even had a swim in the sea. 

Away from the beach, the town is a typical English seaside town - ageing, run down & a bit grotty in places. We went into House of Fraser, which, I suggest, had not changed in 50 years. How places like that keep going I've no idea.

The station is 103 miles from the beach, & we walked it both ways. FFS.

I suppose we chose the nut day, as the weather was glorious all day. On the downside, the place was absolutely heaving, way too many folks there.  Queues for ice creams, fish & chips, even (for the Ladies, but not the men) to have a wee.

Not really my cup of tea, but Gill loved every minute, so that ticked a box. Personally, a quiet cottage in the West Highlands of Scotland beats a beach all day every day.     

We even had our own Beach Hut. Proper posh, us.

Think Bournemouth is classed as a city, but I just see it as a nice sized town.

Only 20 minutes up the road from me, and I used to always enjoy a day/night out there.

Bet those huts go for some dough, for what they are.

Think a place needs a catherderal to be classed as a city ? not its size etc.. might be wrong but the dark bit at the back of my brain seems to ring a bell

Hi Spangles,


Not quite, times have changed. Not every City has a Cathedral, & not every town with a Cathedral is a City. Apparently....



http://www.cathedralcityguide.co.uk/the-cities/

[BigAdz]

Hope not.

Once all the do gooders have had the cathedrals knocked down because they offend other religions, we won't have any cities then either.....

[tikay]

Along with so many others I thoroughly enjoy your reports Sir. Especially when they don't include the word busto.

Do you find writing the ongoing updates a help or a hindrance in your game?

This question arose towards the end of the trip, but I was busy with the big events that closed the trip out, so could not reply. Once I finished playing, I was obliged to give full attention to doing my job.

The answer is a bit of both, really, a flip.

If you were backing, say, Pleno, or Posh Alex, you EXPECT to win, & if they don't update much, fair enough, they are playing at a very high level.

My deal was different, & in truth, few investors expected to win, but they took a slice for the vicarious Vegas thing. So it was obligatory.

At times, updating was a perfect pain. Table companions mocked occasionally "telling your mates you won a pot, chirping are we?" sort of thing. 

I missed a lot of tells due to tip tapping, too, & it definitely distracted in some ways from the task in hand.

On the plus side, it was almost like I had a rail, urging me on, & that really helped. 

The real answer came late on in the trip's biggest event, the $3,000 WSOP PLO8. This is, I think, effectively the World Championship of PLO8. It was also the last event on the schedule.

I was in profit prior to it, & I so nearly bottled playing it. For WSOP Events I always buy in the night before, so I have no stress on my plate pre-comp, & can be in a good mental state, not rushed, fresh latte, settled mind, & fully prepped. In this case I registered just 6 minutes before kick off. I really was in 2 minds.

Now fast forward to Day 2, the bubble was fast approaching, & we were in with a good shot at cashing, & then going on to a deep run. The whole trip revolved around this, bust out & we lose money, cash & we make a profit. And I was desperate to make a profit. The money was neither here nor there. Ego, mental ability, pride, these were the things that mattered.

With 72 paid, & around 90 left......blonde crashed.

And I was completely messed up in my bead. I'd lost my rail, I'd lost my team who do, genuinely, give me the confidence I so lack. It was, in some ways, the worst 3 or 4 hours of the trip, & it totally messed my head up.   

And I genuinely think I might have run deeper if blonde had not crashed when it did, as my focus became divided, trying to play on a really tough table, & F5-ing blonde every few minutes.

Pretty original excuse, huh?

[tikay]

I had some off-forum banter with MANTIS, too, & I told him his "little jibes" amused me but never bothered me.

He came back with "they were not jibes, they were advanced motivational techniques".



1-0 MANTIS. 

[bookiebasher]

Brooklands museum today

Click to see full-size image.

what is about to happen?

Lightening strike ?

Come on Tighty , don't keep us waiting.

[TightEnd]

Brooklands museum today

Click to see full-size image.

what is about to happen?

Lightening strike ?

Come on Tighty , don't keep us waiting.

they drooped the nose for the first time in 35 years. have put an interactive simulator in it as a visitor attraction where you can do lots of fun stuff

[atdc21]

which one is the on/off button ?

[tikay]

Will try, today & in the coming days, try & post some "Best & Worst of the Vegas Trip" stuff.

As you may have noticed, I'm bubbling over with excitement still. It was such a great trip.

There's some context here, too.

I almost never play Live poker these days. Not sure why, but it just seems too much hassle. I can sit at home & happily play small ball stuff profitably & comfortably. 

For this trip, I prepped like I had never prepped before. Lost nearly 3 stone, walked a few miles every day for 5 months, & sorted everything nice & early. I was ready.

Pre each event, I was so excited I was fit to burst. What will the table be like, will they be chatty or arsey, soft or tough, will I hook up with my regular 4 card friends from previous Vegas trips?

And so, when I got started, every hand - every single hand - was a delight, a present to be opened. You'll snigger at this, but for every single hand, all trip (12 or 13 events?) I "squeezed" EACH CARD, one at a time. 4 (or 5) squeezes per hand, every single hand. It's like 4 surprises every hand. 

I keep my chips very tidy, too, always very symmetrical, & constantly fiddle with tem. I love the feel of chips in my hand, & the "snap snap snap" of squeezing the hole cards.

Bad vision (eyes) was more of a problem than I let on. Seats 2, 3, 7 & 8 were really difficult for me, but it's a bit awkward to say to backers, "oh, by the way, I can't see the board cards".

It was just the best thing ever.

Going back to the Updating, another oddity was that I play online most night, 6 tabling, & Online play is 5 or 6 times faster than Live play. Especially in O8, with all the split pot palaver having to be sorted by mostly inefficient dealers who can't even cut a stack. So 1 tabling Live is amazingly slow. Tip tapping definitely helped in that respect, as it's so easy to nod off or lose focus when not much is happening over a 12 hour session. And those WSOP days were very long indeed, 3pm to 3am mostly.

[tikay]

which one is the on/off button ?

Ha, very good.

[tikay]

More sniggering incoming, but that Concorde at Brooklands is just 7 or 8 miles from here.

So one fine Saturday last year, Gill & I went across, & I gave her a special treat - I purchased 2 tickets, think they were £30 each, to allow us to sit in Concorde.

That was it. We sat in Concorde for about 20 minutes, & then got off. *

How exciting can life get?

* Technically, as it is a mode of transport, we embarked & disembarked. We are not allowed to say "we got on" or "we got off". Most unprofessional. 

[Tal]

Why does one alight a train, then?

Is a 'plane talked of like a ship and a train not?

[Marky147]

Hope not.

Once all the do gooders have had the cathedrals knocked down because they offend other religions, we won't have any cities then either.....

Paul Golding hacked Adz's account?

[tikay]

Vegas - Most eye-opening experiences (Part 1)

You will all be familiar with Richard Ashby, aka "chufty".

Mostly, as he used to be just about the biggest (European) Online PLO player in the game.  

I knew him way before that, going right back to the days of the old Luton Grosvenor next to Sainsburys, usually in NLH or PLH tourneys. (There was a lot of PLH in those days).

Since then, I just bump into Richard each year in Vegas, & generally rail him for a bit, as he has quite an unusual table presence, with his cap pulled down right over his eyes.

Anyway, 50 spots off the money in the $3,000 WSOP PLO8, the biggest & most important event of the year for me, bar none, & when I need to cash to be profitable.......Richard arrives at my table, 2 to my left, & that's the nut worst seat he could be in for me.

Now, false humility aside, I do know my way round PLO8, I have good ranges, good technical understanding, but of course I lack gamble, & that holds me back. But I completely "get" the game & how it works. If I had a bit of gamble, I'd actually be very good at it.  

And I've seen how people pay the game in different ways - all of them. That's fine, I can adapt to every one of them, easy peasy.

But let me tell you - nobody, nobody on earth that I have ever seen plays PLO8 like Richard Ashby.

In effect, he plays it like PLO, big pairs & connected hands. A-2-3 & all that stuff is way down his range. And he played almost every hand, the very thing I try to say to newcomers Next Door they should never do.

I was just full of awe to watch him, he was just astonishing. I just wish he had not been sat two to my left.

I was not really scared of him - if I had a hand on his Big, I'd play it. But I did not take him on lightly, & I was a bit overawed & intimidated at first. .

I raised into him once, & he called, & I hit the A high flop hard. He checked, I bet, he folded. I flashed the Ace, don't quite know why, & he just said "Tony, you don't need to show me your Ace, I know you have it, you've never played a hand of PLO8 in your life without an ace"......

Not quite true, but not far off. I felt so embarrassed. He did not say it rudely, by the way, just matter of factly.

What a top, top, guy, & I relished every moment sharing tables with guys like this. It's quite something for me, playing my fiver SNG's every night, to share tables with, quite genuinely, one of the best players in the world in a given format.

So Richard Ashby gets nominated for my "Best of Vegas" memory collection. More similar nonsense will follow in due course.