Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[tikay]

However, there was no fairy-tale ending for Howard. In horse racing terms he "went wrong", & in modern day parlance it's likely he developed severe dementia. Whatever we call it, Howard became a recluse, & no wonder, as he had developed some rather peculiar mannerisms.

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And no, I'm not making this up. Back in the day he would be described as a head case or nut job, but society is a little more caring these days & so we'd say he was "not himself".

We can laugh at these folk of course, but be careful what you wish for, as one day it might be you, though with considerably less money.

[tikay]

In parallel with the decline of Howard's health, The Sands went downhill too, & was eventually purchased by a chap named Sheldon Adelson, who we shall return to shortly.

Sheldon was  - is - nothing if not decisive, & his solution to the problems was simple. Blow the place up.

And so on the 26th November 1996 he did exactly that.


 

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It might seem odd to blow up a building, but the key thing was that it occupied a key piece of land in Las Vegas, & it remains key to this day, with it's replacement, the Venetian & The Palazzo, both very adjacent to Wynn & Encore & right across the road from Mirage & Treasure Island, & it is still the heart of the Las Vegas Strip.

[tikay]

Now a word or two about Sheldon Adelson who founded Venetian Hotel and what was to become The Sands Corporation.

It's customary amongst poker players to be mean about Sheldon, & that's fair enough I suppose, as he is fiercely opposed to Online Poker & has spent millions trying to ban it. He is also a big supporter of Donald Trump, & has donated millions to various Trump political causes.   

So, plenty to dislike there perhaps, but he's a fabulously clever man & for that we might consider tipping our hat to his genius. More pertinently, age has not been kind to him, he is now 85 years old & not a well man, so I don't think it behoves us to be too mean about him. You can if you wish, but I'll pass if you don't mind, there's way too much mean-ness in the world these days.

 

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[tikay]

Fair to say Sheldon had done OK for himself.

Here's one of his swimming pools;


 
 

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You may think that as swimming pools go that's not especially impressive, but I should add it's location. It's not in his back garden or his Country Estate (& I'm sure has has pools in both), but it's on his Yacht. That yacht set him back $80 million initially, then he sent it to a boat yard & spent another $60 mill making it more to his taste. As you do.

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[tikay]

And if you thought that was extravagant, hold your horses, as he also owns a private jet or two. Well, 5 at the last count.

Not just a little Cessna or two, or a Gulfstream, these are proper jobs. 1 x Boeing 747, 1 x Airbus A340 (list price $250 million), 1 x Boeing 767 (second-hand, it previously belonged to a Saudi Prince), & 2 x Boeing 747's, or "Jumbo Jets" as they are better known.   

Now that is what I call a high-flyer.

Here's a few of his private jets, an expression we don't see every day.


 

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[tikay]

Anyway, back to our venue, the Venetian, which as you may have guessed (the clue is in the name) is modelled on Venice.

It was opened in 1999, & so celebrates it's 20th birthday  this year.

It's fabulous in every which way.


 
 

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Here's it's replica Venetian canal, complete with gondolas. Reasonably impressive, but wait, there's more. That canal is INSIDE the Venetian. So how come the blue sky & fluffy clouds? That's a painted ceiling. Welcome to Vegas baby.   


 

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And talking of painted ceilings, if you fancy spending a few bob in the dreadfully named "Forum Shoppes", take a look up at their ceiling.....


 

And yes, if you think you've seen that somewhere before, it's a sort of replica Sistine Chapel ceiling, which was painted by a chap named Michaelangelo. 

[tikay]

Hang in there, I'm nearly done.

So The Venetian is pretty neat, as is it's sister property where the Sky Poker qualifiers are holed up, Palazzo Hotel.

In fact, combined (& they are adjacent & effectively joined at the hip like Siamese twins) they are the 2nd largest hotel in the world. That's 2nd to another sister property, the Venetian, Macau. And yes, it looks identical to the Las Vegas version. Identical but bigger. A lot bigger.

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[tikay]

So there it is.

And now to today's event, held in the very cardroom that hosts the famous Venetian Deepstack Extravanga;


 

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One of the nicest cardrooms on the planet, no exaggeration. Eat your heart out Grosvenor J9.


 

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[tikay]

Rather like a Mary Berry cake, I prepared all that nonsense in advance, but in around 8 hours time this is where we will assemble.

Play starts at 10am local (6pm UK), so I hope a few of you will tune in & see how our boys get on via this Live Update. Photos galore & a Live Update with chip counts & bad beats galore no doubt. It might not be Rich Prew or Jen Mason quality, but Sky Poker can only play the hands they are dealt, & they got dealt what amounted to the old 7-2 off - me.

By the bye, many of you will remember Jen Mason with affection, from her days on Sky Poker TV, & as chance has it, I bumped into the Lady herself in The Rio yesterday.  She's doing WSOP Live Updates for Poker News & you'll be pleased to know she is as mad as ever.

 

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[tikay]

40 runners won seats, most of whom are here, but sadly we have 3 no-shows for a variety of somewhat sad reasons, so we are left with 37 of them playing for $40,000, split up like this;


1st   $12,000

2nd   $8,000

3rd   $5,000

4th   $3,800

5th   $3,100

6th   $2,600

7th   $2,200

8th   $1,800

9th   $1,500

[tikay]

Runners & riders? Here you go;

alancarr12   
BlairReid   
BooBooTheB   
boulton016   
buzka   
CELTICFAN   
Curt360x27   
deuemcwar   
Donttelmum   
Essexphil   
esswun   
FeelGroggy   
goldnballz   
Granite89   
GREGGER01   
GSmith13   
ITSQUADSY   
jimmytoon   
johnmonty   
Jsan   
JTDiamond   
kapowblamz   
lokie   
loololollo   
LuckyBrahh   
Mather14   
MISTY4ME   
nickd49931   
Nutter5932   
pompeynic   
RexRegina   
stack_u   
Thoich   
TimmyRaRa   
Wacko90   
wineli   
xleex21

[tikay]

Players start with 20,000 chips, Level 1 will be 50-100, & the BB ante kicks in on Level 7 at 400/800/100.

[tikay]

Right, time for some sleep (it's currently 2am), but I'll be back at 8am Vegas (4pm UK) to get us up & running.

Hopefully a few of you will join us, & contribute with questions & comments.

The staff crew will be Sky Sam, Sky James & yours truly.

See you later.

[tikay]

And there I shall leave it as far as blonde is concerned, as I don't think the actual Live Update will tickle too many fancies here.

[bookiebasher]

Great write up Tony , it's got my juices flowing and good luck in whatever your playing.

I reckon your due a bink big style as long as brad doesn't rip your ass.