Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[tikay]

Phase 2 fail.

Whoops.

It was a fun tourney in the end. It only just got over the Guarantee line, but it played out a treat.

The Final went on a bit, then 3 of the 4 players got it all in, J-J, 10-10 & 2-2, & it ended soon after, at about 0143. I had been making notes throughout, then got up at 5 the next morning & wrote an "As it Happened" sort of blog/running commentary thing. It was extremely well received, too, almost a handful of people said they enjoyed it. One suit said it was great, too, but he was only a VLS.

The kid who won it, who came from Bognor, won £3,800 I think - his biggest previous win was about £200. LOVE it when that happens. Oddly, the final included an Accountant with a sense of humour, & who could play poker. Very odd combo that. 

I resent that comment as an Accountant with a sense of humour who can (ah ok I'll stop now)

My Accountant friend replied to my little jibe like this.....


I suppose we could debate where accountants and train fanciers relatively sit in the dull spectrum


1-1 feels about right.

That's the thing with Accountants, you see. Dull but clever. You never see a daft accountant.   

[tikay]

I read you like adventures with your spouse and so do I. Currently on Nice adventure with Mrs Mantis which is pretty nifty and off to Cannes tomorrow. Been on a lot of these adventures and below is the formula for the very best one in my experience, expect to obtain unlimited brownie points...

Fly into Verona, the city of love, which you can do for about 10 pence
Dinner at Nastro Azzuro and opera/show at the roman arena
Don't forget to visit Romeo and juliets balcony, act lovey dovey
Train to Lake Garda and spend a couple of days cruising/mincing around the lake, act lovey dovey
First class train to Venice, arriving by train is the best and Venice is the dogs coconuts
Cruise up the grand canal on a water bus, act lovey dovey
Fly out of Venice for 16p
Revel in lovey dovey masterdom for the next 5 years

Well now, what a romantic.

We did Nice a few years ago, the memory soured only by too much sunshine causing my head to swell to twice it's normal size.

Where did you stay - on the Promenade I hope? Perfectly lovely, in every way.

If you are still there, jump the train into Monaco - might be one of the top ten railway journeys in the world, through a multitude of tunnels, & all along the very edge of the coast.

Monaco Station is a bit of a let down, wholly underground & all really rather dull, but it's just a 5 minute walk from the Monte Carlo Casino, Café de Paris & all that stuff.  I had spag bol at Café de Paris, but it had onion in so I sent it back.

You really must visit Monte Carlo if in Nice.

Not sure I want to take Gill to Venice.  I went there in my poker years, & I found it all a bit smelly, bit like the Grand Union in Harlesden & Willesden, & all those Gondola things, nowhere near as nice as the ones they have at The Venetian, in Vegas.

Here's Monaco Station - you get the drift, not at all what I'd hope to see.

PS - Don't forget to give Mrs Mantis the occasional kiss.

[arbboy]

Phase 2 fail.

Whoops.

It was a fun tourney in the end. It only just got over the Guarantee line, but it played out a treat.

The Final went on a bit, then 3 of the 4 players got it all in, J-J, 10-10 & 2-2, & it ended soon after, at about 0143. I had been making notes throughout, then got up at 5 the next morning & wrote an "As it Happened" sort of blog/running commentary thing. It was extremely well received, too, almost a handful of people said they enjoyed it. One suit said it was great, too, but he was only a VLS.

The kid who won it, who came from Bognor, won £3,800 I think - his biggest previous win was about £200. LOVE it when that happens. Oddly, the final included an Accountant with a sense of humour, & who could play poker. Very odd combo that.

I resent that comment as an Accountant with a sense of humour who can (ah ok I'll stop now)

My Accountant friend replied to my little jibe like this.....


I suppose we could debate where accountants and train fanciers relatively sit in the dull spectrum


1-1 feels about right.

That's the thing with Accountants, you see. Dull but clever. You never see a daft accountant.  

I often wonder what on earth my life would be like if i was still in the accountancy business.  15 years to the day today when i joined the dark side of the gambling business that i left my big 5 ACA training firm to join bet365 in a portacabin in Stoke as a junior loltrader.  My god how things have changed in 15 years.  Haven't been called 'dull but clever' for a while either!  Beats 'argue' i suppose.

Probably the biggest lol moment of my life was at my final interview prior to getting the job in 2001 when i was told in no uncertain terms that bet365, the owner of a tiny 50 betting shop estate in Staffordshire, would become one of the biggest three betting firms in the world in the future.  15 years on they are probably worth more than lolbrokes, hills, corals, stan james and bald put together who were the so called big hitters of the day.  Quite staggering given my struggles to keep a straight face when i got told this looking back.  Think they reported close to £500m NET profits recently for their latest financial year.

[arbboy]

.

[tikay]

Phase 2 fail.

Whoops.

It was a fun tourney in the end. It only just got over the Guarantee line, but it played out a treat.

The Final went on a bit, then 3 of the 4 players got it all in, J-J, 10-10 & 2-2, & it ended soon after, at about 0143. I had been making notes throughout, then got up at 5 the next morning & wrote an "As it Happened" sort of blog/running commentary thing. It was extremely well received, too, almost a handful of people said they enjoyed it. One suit said it was great, too, but he was only a VLS.

The kid who won it, who came from Bognor, won £3,800 I think - his biggest previous win was about £200. LOVE it when that happens. Oddly, the final included an Accountant with a sense of humour, & who could play poker. Very odd combo that.

I resent that comment as an Accountant with a sense of humour who can (ah ok I'll stop now)

My Accountant friend replied to my little jibe like this.....


I suppose we could debate where accountants and train fanciers relatively sit in the dull spectrum


1-1 feels about right.

That's the thing with Accountants, you see. Dull but clever. You never see a daft accountant.  

I often wonder what on earth my life would be like if i was still in the accountancy business.  15 years to the day today when i joined the dark side of the gambling business that i left my big 5 ACA training firm to join bet365 in a portacabin in Stoke as a junior loltrader.  My god how things have changed in 15 years.  Haven't been called 'dull but clever' for a while either!  Beats 'argue' i suppose.

Probably the biggest lol moment of my life was at my final interview prior to getting the job in 2001 when i was told in no uncertain terms that bet365, the owner of a tiny 50 betting shop estate in Staffordshire, would become one of the biggest three betting firms in the world in the future.  15 years on they are probably worth more than lolbrokes, hills, corals, stan james and bald put together who were the so called big hitters of the day.  Quite staggering given my struggles to keep a straight face when i got told this looking back.  Think they reported close to £500m NET profits recently for their latest financial year.

Will reply to all of that tomorrow, busy right now, but I'm going to muse on likely names for you overnight.

Joint favs right now?

LolzzBoy

DullzBoy

[MANTIS01]

Forgot to add, anybody who comes away from Venice calling it smelly is uncouth

[Woodsey]

I read you like adventures with your spouse and so do I. Currently on Nice adventure with Mrs Mantis which is pretty nifty and off to Cannes tomorrow. Been on a lot of these adventures and below is the formula for the very best one in my experience, expect to obtain unlimited brownie points...

Fly into Verona, the city of love, which you can do for about 10 pence
Dinner at Nastro Azzuro and opera/show at the roman arena
Don't forget to visit Romeo and juliets balcony, act lovey dovey
Train to Lake Garda and spend a couple of days cruising/mincing around the lake, act lovey dovey
First class train to Venice, arriving by train is the best and Venice is the dogs coconuts
Cruise up the grand canal on a water bus, act lovey dovey
Fly out of Venice for 16p
Revel in lovey dovey masterdom for the next 5 years

Well now, what a romantic.

We did Nice a few years ago, the memory soured only by too much sunshine causing my head to swell to twice it's normal size.

Where did you stay - on the Promenade I hope? Perfectly lovely, in every way.

If you are still there, jump the train into Monaco - might be one of the top ten railway journeys in the world, through a multitude of tunnels, & all along the very edge of the coast.

Monaco Station is a bit of a let down, wholly underground & all really rather dull, but it's just a 5 minute walk from the Monte Carlo Casino, Café de Paris & all that stuff.  I had spag bol at Café de Paris, but it had onion in so I sent it back.

You really must visit Monte Carlo if in Nice.

Not sure I want to take Gill to Venice.  I went there in my poker years, & I found it all a bit smelly, bit like the Grand Union in Harlesden & Willesden, & all those Gondola things, nowhere near as nice as the ones they have at The Venetian, in Vegas.

Here's Monaco Station - you get the drift, not at all what I'd hope to see.

PS - Don't forget to give Mrs Mantis the occasional kiss.

Nah, if you are in Nice the nut way to go to Monaco is by helicopter!!

Did it a few years back and it was less than a hundred quid too......

[DaveShoelace]

Going back to your advert musings last weeks, is this your mate Mrs/Miss Champion in the back seat?

[MANTIS01]

Yah Tikay the promenade is lovely, me and the Mrs have taken very well to sitting on benches and going for strolls like we're a hundred years old. Only downer we were stopped in our tracks by the huge memorial for the victims of the Nice tragedy, a mountain of cuddly toys and such like at one end. Also there are soldiers bowling round in fours with their fingers poised on the triggers of their automatic weapons. Haunting really.

[MrDickie]

I had spag bol at Café de Paris, but it had onion in so I sent it back.

Good lord........surprised that the Chef did not lynch you. Everyone knows that Spag Bol has onion in it.

[The Wycher]

Phase 2 fail.

Whoops.

It was a fun tourney in the end. It only just got over the Guarantee line, but it played out a treat.

The Final went on a bit, then 3 of the 4 players got it all in, J-J, 10-10 & 2-2, & it ended soon after, at about 0143. I had been making notes throughout, then got up at 5 the next morning & wrote an "As it Happened" sort of blog/running commentary thing. It was extremely well received, too, almost a handful of people said they enjoyed it. One suit said it was great, too, but he was only a VLS.

The kid who won it, who came from Bognor, won £3,800 I think - his biggest previous win was about £200. LOVE it when that happens. Oddly, the final included an Accountant with a sense of humour, & who could play poker. Very odd combo that.

I resent that comment as an Accountant with a sense of humour who can (ah ok I'll stop now)

My Accountant friend replied to my little jibe like this.....


I suppose we could debate where accountants and train fanciers relatively sit in the dull spectrum


1-1 feels about right.

That's the thing with Accountants, you see. Dull but clever. You never see a daft accountant.  

I often wonder what on earth my life would be like if i was still in the accountancy business.  15 years to the day today when i joined the dark side of the gambling business that i left my big 5 ACA training firm to join bet365 in a portacabin in Stoke as a junior loltrader.  My god how things have changed in 15 years.  Haven't been called 'dull but clever' for a while either!  Beats 'argue' i suppose.

Probably the biggest lol moment of my life was at my final interview prior to getting the job in 2001 when i was told in no uncertain terms that bet365, the owner of a tiny 50 betting shop estate in Staffordshire, would become one of the biggest three betting firms in the world in the future.  15 years on they are probably worth more than lolbrokes, hills, corals, stan james and bald put together who were the so called big hitters of the day.  Quite staggering given my struggles to keep a straight face when i got told this looking back.  Think they reported close to £500m NET profits recently for their latest financial year.

Its funny really never thought I would be an accountant, only started on path when I dropped out of Uni after one week (just knew course etc was not for me) and a friend (who wanted to be an accountant) said there was a job going. So thought why not at least it was work. That was 28 years ago.

Ironically as kid I did do a bit of trainspotting as my older brother was into it (and he still is even though he drives them for a living!) so I must be really dull.

[MANTIS01]

Cannes est tres bien.

Some of the yachts are mind boggling.

Casino has a comp on later, 15min blinds, just like the old £20 rebuy chip splash at junction 10...hmmm.

[tikay]

Forgot to add, anybody who comes away from Venice calling it smelly is uncouth

Think that's well out of order MANTIS - calling someone uncouth is extremely bad form where I come from & should be reserved for extreme cases, or people who don't love the finer points of life, such as Robbie Williams, or custard skin.  

[tikay]

I read you like adventures with your spouse and so do I. Currently on Nice adventure with Mrs Mantis which is pretty nifty and off to Cannes tomorrow. Been on a lot of these adventures and below is the formula for the very best one in my experience, expect to obtain unlimited brownie points...

Fly into Verona, the city of love, which you can do for about 10 pence
Dinner at Nastro Azzuro and opera/show at the roman arena
Don't forget to visit Romeo and juliets balcony, act lovey dovey
Train to Lake Garda and spend a couple of days cruising/mincing around the lake, act lovey dovey
First class train to Venice, arriving by train is the best and Venice is the dogs coconuts
Cruise up the grand canal on a water bus, act lovey dovey
Fly out of Venice for 16p
Revel in lovey dovey masterdom for the next 5 years

Well now, what a romantic.

We did Nice a few years ago, the memory soured only by too much sunshine causing my head to swell to twice it's normal size.

Where did you stay - on the Promenade I hope? Perfectly lovely, in every way.

If you are still there, jump the train into Monaco - might be one of the top ten railway journeys in the world, through a multitude of tunnels, & all along the very edge of the coast.

Monaco Station is a bit of a let down, wholly underground & all really rather dull, but it's just a 5 minute walk from the Monte Carlo Casino, Café de Paris & all that stuff.  I had spag bol at Café de Paris, but it had onion in so I sent it back.

You really must visit Monte Carlo if in Nice.

Not sure I want to take Gill to Venice.  I went there in my poker years, & I found it all a bit smelly, bit like the Grand Union in Harlesden & Willesden, & all those Gondola things, nowhere near as nice as the ones they have at The Venetian, in Vegas.

Here's Monaco Station - you get the drift, not at all what I'd hope to see.

PS - Don't forget to give Mrs Mantis the occasional kiss.

Nah, if you are in Nice the nut way to go to Monaco is by helicopter!!

Did it a few years back and it was less than a hundred quid too......

FFS Woodsey, you are so uncouth.

[RED-DOG]

Forgot to add, anybody who comes away from Venice calling it smelly is uncouth

Think that's well out of order MANTIS - calling someone uncouth is extremely bad form where I come from.

Unnecessary roughness.