Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[tikay]

Which reminds me. Mother Hen - Trumper version - & myself, plus, I hope, Ralphy Boy & whoever else can tolerate a bunch of aged geeks, are gonna give you a going over at the weekend. We am is going to Duxford, whether you like it or not. Innit.

I agreed the date with Mother Hen yesterday - are you free that day?
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When ? where ? who ? and what if we're stil in the tourney ? A bit of a longshot I know.
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Badly worded by me Ralph, sorry.

The 2 dates Mother Hen has suggested, & which I can manage, are midweek, either the week after next, or the week after that. I can't exactly remember the Dates though - but we can sort it this weekend, that's what I mean't.

Mother Hen wanted to see a Vulcan Bomber, or go to a Train Museum, & I suggested Duxford would be perfect. Chompy wants to come, too, but I've not invited him yet, innit.

Any more? - all are welcome, but there's a minimum age requirement.

[faireycakes]

70 ?

[tikay]

70 ?

Too high - only Karabiner qualifies.

[tikay]

The Duxford Date is August 20th.

Confirmed so far.

Red-Dog. (Not been given an Option).

Mother Hen

Me.

Any more for any moire? Moaning old fogeys only please. Bring your own thermos floask & warm blanket.

[tikay]

I went to The Vic yesterday, to be interviewed by Des Wilson, 11am sharp.

We both arrived early, but the front doors were all locked, & so we did the interview in a local Cafeteria.

Later, we returned to The Vic, & the doors were now open.

We enquired why the place had been closed at 11am - "we thought you were 24/7 now?" - & they said "oh, we were open, but we keep the doors locked in the morning".

Customer Service as only The Vic know how.

As to the Interview, it was a bit of a cock-up really. I had understood it to be "so what's happening at Sky Poker now" sorta piece, hence my eager presence, but Des wanted to combine it with some personal stuff. And he'd really done deep research, & his questions were unbelievably good, prompting very long & revealing replies. (It was all done via a Dictaphone Machine).

It really left me in reminiscent mood, because we touched on some very poignant stuff. There was greatest day of my life (when I was 13), which I still think about daily, when a miracle occurred, then a few of the personal triumphs & setbacks I've enjoyed. Many of the setbacks were just money - I recall one which cost me £420,000, another £29,000, & more recently, £187,000 went sailing down the swanee. None of them cost me a moments sleep. The highlights, the "triumphs" (bad word that) still give me a tingle of satisfaction, even at this distance.

I doubt - hope even - the Interview never sees the light of day, but it did press all sorts of buttons in my mind, & I've gone all funny today, thinking back on stuff.

But it was Des who should be yesterday's Headline Act. He really gets more extraordinary, the more I get to know him.

He looks like an old buffer, well past his sell-by-date, but you'd be wrong of you stuck him in that box......very wrong indeed.

More......

[tikay]

Before I return to Des Wilson, I have special reason to say "Hi" to two Members currently viewing this thread - Mere Novice, & Nutter5932.

MereNovice knows why I'm so pleased to see him around, 'nuff said.

And Nutter5932, young Ben Nuttall, who came to Vegas with me this year. He's still killing the Games at Sky Poker, & we got to know each other much better in Vegas. I like him, a lot.

Hi Both.

[tikay]

Back to Des Wilson.

I am at that age where I feel a need to say things I've long wanted to, but feel I must now. The egg-timer is fast running out.

I was a bit of a crud to Des, for several years. He was writing his Devilfish book, & he was attending all the Circuit Events, all over Europe, looking for Devilfish anecdotes, & asking those who knew him to assist.

I knew Mr Ulliott very well - he was in the very first Tourney I ever played, at Stanleys Derby - but I, shall we say, had yet to see his nice side, in fact, from where I stood, I struggled to see a single redeeming feature in him.

But rather than disappoint Des, who - at the time (but not now, by God!) thought Devilfish was a wonderful man - I just kept avoiding Des Wilson. He made appointments to interview me in London, Paris, Vegas, Barcelona, all over, & I swerved every one. I just could not bring myself to so disappoint Des, with my somewhat one-sided & almost certainly unfair take on Mr U.

So yesterday, I found the resolve to apologise to Des, but I got a bit of a shock - as Des was, by now, way ahead of me.

An old codger he may be, but not much gets past Des Wilson.

Anyway.....

[tikay]

And I know a lot about Des Wilson, too, a lot. He's led a quite remarkable life, as I've written before. Forget Wikipidea, dig deeper, much deeper.

Back in the Poker 425 days, we went down to his Cottage in Cornwall - it's like 5 hours from London, by train, & it's idyllic. His nearest neighbour is 7 miles distant, & he & his wife - she is an Artist - both have outbuildings within the demise which are dedicated to their hobbies. He keeps inviting me down, to take some time out in the Country, & I keep putting it off, but I must go do it soon.

We'd finished the Interview yesterday - 2 whole hours - & wandered back to The Vic, where Des was doing another Interview at 13.30, with Jeff Duvall. I decided to hang with Des until Jeff arrived, as Jeff is another who's far, far, deeper & more interesting than almost anyone in poker realises. If only I could talk more openly, but I can't. What a character, though, & I adore him. That's not to say he's an angel - he's not - but that misses the point about the difference between him &, say, Mr U.

Cripes, I'm waffling here. Let's get back to Des Wilson.......

[tikay]

So, sat in The Vic, with Des, awaiting Jeff Duval, we are watching the Cricket, during Anderson's hot spell.

And Des is shouting & screaming like a spotty teenager, getting well excited by every further wicket - "did you see that?, DID YOU SEE THAT?, Anderson is DESTROYING the bastards".

And I'm thinking, "wtf, how can a man of 68 get so excited?".

Then the penny dropped - he was the ECB Chairman a while back, so I mentioned that, did he still get ECB privileges?

Well, off he went. To contextualise this, you have to remember he was ECB Chairman at the time of the Zimbabwe fiasco.

"I'm writing my biography, & you must read it - I'm going to scorch the ECB hierarchy, SCORCH them I tell you. I've never met a more morally-bankrupt, lying bunch of spineless hypocrites in my life. I had to resign, I had to."

Ooh-er, & wow.

He was getting a bit heated now, so I enlisted some cooey-weooey techniques, & turned ther convo round to my imminent Treat For The Week - an hour wandering around Paddington Station, with Camera. (Paddington Station has very strong family connections for me).

"Why Paddington?" asked Des.

"Because I'm going back to Feltham on the Heathrow Exprress" I said.

"Oh, the Heathrow Express - I opened that, when I was at BAA (BAA own the Heathrow Expresss), & I got Tony Blair - who I knew well - to "cut the ribbon" on the opening day".

And I'm thinking, what have you NOT done in your life Des?

So I went a-googling last night.......

[tikay]

As a teenager he had three enthusiasms: cricket, theatre, and journalism. (These enthusiasms were reflected in later years as a member of the English Cricket Board, an executive with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and a columnist for two leading Fleet Street newspapers, The Guardian and The Observer.)

After five years travelling in Europe, working in coffee bars and jazz clubs, then on local or trade papers, before exploring the possibilities of public relations, he decided to express his political idealism (he was by then a local Labour Party activist) via charitable/campaigning work and became involved in the launch of Shelter. He was its first director and held the post for four and a half years. At that time he also wrote a Guardian column and did some television work. He was also on the national committees of the Child Poverty Action Group and the NCCL (now Liberty).

In 1971 he joined The Observer as a columnist, writing for it until 1974 when he joined The Royal Shakespeare Company as head of public affairs

In 1982, aged 41, he returned to campaigning for 10 years, launching in January the Clear campaign that won its battle for lead-free petrol in April 1983, and subsequently got lead-free petrol introduced throughout Europe (and in New Zealand where he won a campaign after only nine days).

In 1983 he became Chairman of Friends of the Earth and also launched an umbrella campaigning organisation called Citizen Action. This, in turn, launched the Campaign for Freedom of Information; this campaign achieved a Freedom of Information Act in the UK just over 10 years later.
In 1973 he had joined the Liberal Party and fought a by-election in Hove, and he now returned to active Liberal party campaigning, becoming President of the party in 1986-87 and publishing a book on the 1987 General Election. He played a key role in establishing the Liberal Democratic party and In 1992 he ran its General Election campaign, subsequently being awarded PR Week’s award for the industry’s outstanding individual of 1992 for that campaign.

On the back of this he re-entered public relations as director of public affairs for Burson Marsteller and from there went to BAA as director of corporate and public affairs and was there from 1994 until 2000 when he retired.

He subsequently became a member of the board of Earls Court and Olympia Ltd. and was a non-executive director of The Carphone Warehouse at the time of its flotation.

In the public sector, he was from 1998 until 2004 active on a number of fronts: he was appointed to the Board of the British Tourist Authority  and was on the Board for six years, then became deputy chairman of Sport England and chairman of its Lottery Panel, and a member of the UK Sports Council. He acted for three years as public affairs advisor to the MCC and was elected to the English Cricket Board but resigned during the Zimbabwe tour controversy of 2004.

He has in the past made many appearances on programmes such as BBC TV’s Question Time and radio’s Any Questions. In the early 60’s he fronted two LWT Sunday night series and made a documentary in the BBC series “One pair of eyes”. He has been for many years a sought-after public speaker.

He has written 14 books, including two novels, Costa del Sol and Campaign, a book with Sir John Egan on corporate social responsibility, and his most recent book on professional poker

He has written for every major British newspaper, including being a columnist for two years on The New Statesman.

His career has thus spanned 50 years and involved journalism, public relations and public affairs, and politics.

[tikay]

Now THATS a CV - how wonderful it would be to leave that legacy behind when the GR comes-a-knocking?

I'm sure he must have a dark side, too - otherwise, surely, when OBE's & Sir-Hoods are dished out 2 a penny to brainless & morally bankrupt Footballers, they would have sent one his way. Maybe it's because he's a New Zealander, I don't know.

We overuse the word "legend" - I'm as guilty as anyone - but Des Wilson really is one. Is there a more accomplished man in poker?

He can still play a bit, too. He got dumped by Ladbrokes, so went solo to Vegas this year. After flights & Hotels, he came home $4,000 richer, just messing about in Tourneys & Cash Games.

He's 68.

[Laxie]

Started reading 'Ghosts at the Table' a while back.  Got side tracked by life, but now that you mention him, must get back to reading the book.  I was thoroughly enjoying it at the time. 

[Bongo]

The Duxford Date is August 20th.

Confirmed so far.

Red-Dog. (Not been given an Option).

Mother Hen

Me.

Any more for any moire? Moaning old fogeys only please. Bring your own thermos floask & warm blanket.

Am I moaning old fogey enough?

[tikay]

The Duxford Date is August 20th.

Confirmed so far.

Red-Dog. (Not been given an Option).

Mother Hen

Me.

Any more for any moire? Moaning old fogeys only please. Bring your own thermos floask & warm blanket.

Am I moaning old fogey enough?

Well you need to be seriously geeky. Oh wait - you are in IT, yes?

Accepted.

[tikay]

Bit mealy-mouthed, that Des Wilson chappie, it would appear. (For Cricket Geeks only).

There's plenty more like this by Des, too.


The Guardian 2006

What a triumph for the buffoons at the top of the ECB and the charlatans running the ICC. Our test team - the pride and joy of the English game - finds itself for the second time in two years unhappily adrift in a foreign country, not knowing where it will be tomorrow. Some of the world's most-respected sports writers are insultingly told they can't be trusted to practise their most innocent of professions…reporting cricket.. The Foreign Office is appalled (despite being partly to blame) and the public are rightly astonished that English cricket, having already been humiliated by the Zimbabwe row at the time of the World Cup, and having this time been properly warned what could happen and advised what to do, have blundered into the most foreseeable of disasters.

Whatever happens now, it should be clear that this tour should have been called off a year back.

In a paper I wrote for the ECB at the beginning of the year I identified six justifications for abandoning an international sporting tour and at least five of the six have come to pass.

In that paper I identified one justification as denial of freedom of movement and expression "especially as it applies to the media's ability to report what it sees and hears." I pointed out that the cricket writers were an integral part of the cricket family that if their freedoms were denied "the integrity of the tour is challenged."

The ECB did not even discuss my paper. The ICC rubbished it. The ICC, an organisation that makes the Mafia appear saint-like, then bullied the ECB by threatening draconian penalties if it cancelled the Zimbabwe tour, before then clearing Zimbabwe cricket of racism despite the overwhelming evidence that it exists.

Maybe there'll be another sordid little fix now and the tour will happen. But if it does not, it won't be acceptable for either the ECB or the ICC to complain about Mugabe's treatment of the cricketing media.

Mugabe is not the villain in this latest drama. Mugabe is merely being Mugabe, doing what Mugabe has to do. If we were murdering our citizens, denying human rights, impoverishing our people, and generally operating one of the most oppressive and ruthless dictatorships on the world, we wouldn't let the media in either. At least he deserves credit for consistency; denying UK journalists their rights to report is exactly what he's done to the whole Zimbabwean media.

The culprits in this fiasco are the ECB and the ICC. The ECB had a chance to avoid all this. It had a well-argued and well-supported strategy for withdrawing from the tour presented to it, and all it had to do was call the ICC's bluff; unfortunately there were financial vested interests on the Board who prevailed and a Chairman whose main concerns was being re-elected for a second term and being acceptable at the international dinner table.

As for the ICC, its failure to accept the legitimate concerns raised about the tour, and its inability to see that in ruling out moral considerations it was itself adopting a deeply immoral stance, will surprise no-one who meets the self-serving nonentities on its Board.

And both organisations simply would not accept what was obvious to almost anyone else - that the chances of the tour proceeding without some outrage were virtually nil. They may be "shocked" at the ban on the reporters; the rest of us take it for granted. What did they expect ?

I spent an evening with the England team earlier this year. They're not just quality cricketers, they really are a thoughtful and decent bunch. They did not want to go to Zimbabwe. They knew it was wrong and they knew it was a mistake. (The pressure later applied to Michael Vaughan was unforgivable.) They and the whole game have been let down by administrators who claim their only desire is to maintain the innocence of the sport and to preserve political neutrality, but, as Peter Oborne's recent book on the D'Olivera affair shows, cricket has never been politically neutral; apartheid thrived for years with the tacit support of English cricket.

At their best, sportsmen and women are fair and honest, free spirits, international…they don't even see racial or religious differences, only rival competitors. On the whole ethical standards are high. Why ? Because sport does exercise moral judgement - over its own affairs. That's why drugs offences or bribe-taking cause such anger. But its hypocritical, even totally schizophrenic, to take pride in sportsmanship and in the case of cricket in the civility, courage, decency, integrity of the game, and then abandon it beyond the field of play.

We're not talking about ignorance, we're taking about declining to care…a deliberate decision to decline to care. This is not being neutral, because its effect is to strengthen the wrong-doer.

What kind of man is Mr Malcom Speed of the ICC who came back from Zimbabwe furious…but why ? Because the Zimbabwe Cricket Union refused to meet him. Note, he was not angry at the men and women being raped and tortured and murdered by the Mugabe regime…not angry at the denial of human rights…not angry at the millions starving while their despotic President refused to seek international aid. Oh no. Why should he be ? Because he and the ICC have proclaimed independence from moral judgement. The do not believe this is their business. They have deliberately chosen not to care. These people have no place in any form of public administration.

There were five reasons why this tour should never have been contemplated:

" Zimbabwe cricket is heavily politically-influenced and riddled with racism; its behaviour and its ethics are inconsistent with the values of cricket.

" It is deeply dividing the game, with the players unenthusiastic (to put it mildly), cricket-lovers discomforted, the sponsors embarrassed, and the cricket media almost unanimously opposed Sky television even refusing to cover it.) Cricket's stakeholders are being betrayed.

" It is deeply damaging to the image of the game at a time when it is competing with so many other calls on the public's attention and loyalty.

" The freedom of expression and movement of a key part of the cricketing community, its reporters, is being denied.

" It is inconsistent with the foreign policy of the country, the UK having helped force Zimbabwe out of the Commonwealth and encouraged EU sanctions.

" Most importantly, the behaviour of the Mugabe regime is contrary to all that sport, and cricket in particular, stands for, in terms of the way human beings should behave towards one another. This not a dictator we should be bolstering, not a regime we should be endorsing, not a place where we should be playing games.

That the ECB and the ICC cannot see all this, or don't care, is a scandal beyond acceptability.