Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[Simon Galloway]

Quite possibly that's what happened.  Or maybe someone else reported it, and he had to be seen to take action, idk.  The point is, with the rules on it established, sticking your neck on the block for no reason is pretty daft.

[Royal Flush]

ha vagina decliner never heard that before, incred

[DaveShoelace]

ha vagina decliner, haven't been called that before, incred

fyp

[wormster]

The Gray / Keys story is brilliant & they got their just deserts. I doubt anyone in TV will be feeling sorry for them as they are 2 of the most dreadful people you could ever work with. I've witnessed first hand how they bully Assistant Producers & technical staff, talk loudly in the studio about who they shagged over the weekend etc. That was over 10 years ago for me & it seems nothing has changed.

From the news that has been "leaked" I wonder if Sky were looking to get rid of them. Someone told me a while back that Gray & Keys weren't liked by the new management & they didn't help their cause by demanding a pay rise (I heard Gray gets £1.7 MILLION - to tell us what a great goal we've just seen!).  Now to have 2 recordings of their behaviour "leaked" to the press, were the Sky management team aware of how Gray / Keys were behaving and took steps to get evidence against them?

Sky certainly saves a few bob with them 2 now gone

[tikay]

The Gray / Keys story is brilliant & they got their just deserts. I doubt anyone in TV will be feeling sorry for them as they are 2 of the most dreadful people you could ever work with. I've witnessed first hand how they bully Assistant Producers & technical staff, talk loudly in the studio about who they shagged over the weekend etc. That was over 10 years ago for me & it seems nothing has changed.

From the news that has been "leaked" I wonder if Sky were looking to get rid of them. Someone told me a while back that Gray & Keys weren't liked by the new management & they didn't help their cause by demanding a pay rise (I heard Gray gets £1.7 MILLION - to tell us what a great goal we've just seen!).  Now to have 2 recordings of their behaviour "leaked" to the press, were the Sky management team aware of how Gray / Keys were behaving and took steps to get evidence against them?

Sky certainly saves a few bob with them 2 now gone

To place that in context, & for those who do not know, "wormster" is a TV Producer of many years standing.

He was Producer on my first TV thing, "Poker 425", & then again, a while later, on "Inside Poker" or "Poker Week", I forget which.

Poker 425 was any 2 or 3 from Compo, Johnny Gould, Rhowena, Ed Giddens, & myself. It was sponsored by Wm Hill, who had a TV channel at the time.

[tikay]

".......But here's the thing. If I'm not prepared to risk my own money, is it right to (try to) sell some of my action using other people's money? (Friends, mainly).

Somehow it does not feel right......"

Well before I've been able to resolve that, I've had several pledges, on Thread, & as many again by PM & Text.

Thank you very much to all of you.

For now, I will, as usual, dither a bit, then dither some more.

[Chompy]

1% on credit?

[mondatoo]

".......But here's the thing. If I'm not prepared to risk my own money, is it right to (try to) sell some of my action using other people's money? (Friends, mainly).

Somehow it does not feel right......"

Well before I've been able to resolve that, I've had several pledges, on Thread, & as many again by PM & Text.

Thank you very much to all of you.

For now, I will, as usual, dither a bit, then dither some more.

JFDI, OK ?

[MereNovice]

".......But here's the thing. If I'm not prepared to risk my own money, is it right to (try to) sell some of my action using other people's money? (Friends, mainly).

Somehow it does not feel right......"

Well before I've been able to resolve that, I've had several pledges, on Thread, & as many again by PM & Text.

Thank you very much to all of you.

For now, I will, as usual, dither a bit, then dither some more.

If it helps with your dithering, my view would be that I would get much vicarious pleasure from you playing in an event (or events) which I will never play. The sum of money staked is inconsequential but the amount of fun to be had strikes me as almost limitless. I'm sure that many other people who have offered backing feel the same.

[tikay]

Overlaid spectacularly this morning - was due to leave London to head north at 8am, & was awoken by a 'phone call at....10.30, groan.

Head was in a complete spin, rush rush rush, but the morning latte from Starbucks seems to calm me down. My addiction to latte is total, if I could not start the day with one, I'd be in a shocking state, grumpy & all sorts.

The weigh in was encouraging thogh - 13st, 3lbs. Getting there.

No traffic problems, & wound my way home first, where, at long long last, my replacemen Credit Cards had arrived. And a TV Licence reminder, whoops.

Several "red letters" too, as many of my regular payments are via plastic, so they all bounced whilst I awaited replacements. I'll try & sort them all out in the morning.

Angell was very clingy, but seemed chippy & well.

Then onwards to Manchester, & on a whim, I decided to meander across one of my favourite routes, the Woodhead Pass. An astounding, breathraking, truly wonderful part of the country.

[tikay]

If you have not traversed Woodhead Pass, you must.

This, sort of, is it's Wiki page......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A628_road

It's one of the most dramatic pieces of road in the UK, right up there with the A6 at Whatstandwell, & the old A55 in North Wales.

Reservoirs by the dozen, then, as you climb higher & higher through the Peak National Park, you can see for absolutely miles in all directions. Not a single building or man-made object (the road excepted) can be seen, everything is just as nature left it.

The grass is more like scrub, just scrub, as far as the eye can see, with little white dots everywhere - sheep. I think Hill-Farming must just be setting a flock of sheep loose.

Eventually, it peaks, & then the steady decline into Lancashire (or is it Gtr Manchester?) through wonderfully named little towns.

I loved every yard of the drive, through a slowly setting sun. The Temp as I exited the M1 was +4c, & at the top of the Pennines, 20 mina later, it was -4c!

It's not a road I like to use in mid-winter at night, though, it scares me to death. Pitch dark, & up there, if you got lost on foot, you'd die of exposure in hours.

[tikay]

The thing that is so curious about that part of the Pennines is the total lack of trees - not one to be seen, from horizon to horizon! Not one.

So, that has to be the "tree-line", which I'd always thought was a temperature thing. But Wiki says otherwise - it suggests it can be caused by exposed areas battered by winds, which would make sense in this case, the wind always howls up there.

But I can't quite grasp why the tree-line is so total - there is not one single tree, not even any little stragglers fighting to survive, no small hardy ones, clinging to life - nothing, not one. Then, as you descend, bang, suddenly, there they are, thousands of them.

Most peculiar.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_line

[RED-DOG]

How long did you say it was from when you exited the M1 to when you arrived at the top of the Pennines?

[tikay]

Just as I left the Pass, & hit the Manchester traffic on the M57, the phone sort of exploded - a dozen calls in half an hour. Welcome back to civilisation.

Had a whole series of very awkward little probs to solve, & by the time I reached my Hotel, at 6pm, my head was abso spinning again.

The Hotel is OK, it is right by the Manchester Arena I think, it advertises "Parking available near by", but I never realised that meant Stockport.

Fired up the lappie, speed-read all the mail, then flagged the stuff I needed to deal with later. Which was most of it. The head was still all over the place, & I needed to calm down, as I was playing the £220 for Sky Poker tonight, with 2 or 3 phone-ins scheduled to the Show. Best not do that A-Q squeeze early doors, then.

Failing, or butchering a hand, & exiting early, with so many watching, is not a good thing for me, or the Site, so I was a bit constrained at first, but managed to find a few Raises early doors which settled me down. Had one or two hands, hit the board very hard after trying to float James Williams (not sure I'm supposed to hit when floating!), & missed a bet with a Turned House against Boba-Fett. Even so, had to get lucky against JAKALLY when I jammed K-5 into his A-Q, & hit the 5.

Once we'd hit the cash, I planned to serial jam, but I ran into K-K first jam, so that was that. £826 I think, into my PTP Account. Notionally, profits from the PTP Accounts go to charity, but only when the Account closes. And it closes when the PTP-er stops doing it, so my microscopic profit over nearly 3 years remains in the Account for now.

JAKALLY ended up 2nd for £2,300, N1 Neil.

The Phone-Ins are a bit awkward, as you have to be patched through to the Studio 4 or 5 minutes in advance, & meanwhile, the Tourney continues, & peeps are still firing questions at me. Obv, I can't type with one hand.....

Nik Persaud was on the Show as a Guest, we have quite a few lined up, & I thought he analysed brilliantly. These guys come on the Show & make me feel wholly inadequate, they really do. Luckily, I'm cheap. He articulated brilliantly imo.

Orford had a bet I'd last longer than a particular player, who then proceeded to gallop into the distance early doors, but he got unlucky later, & I outlasted him, so Orford nicked the tenner.

[tikay]

How long did you say it was from when you exited the M1 to when you arrived at the top of the Pennines?

20 mina, it may have been 30 or 40 mina, I'm not sura.

It's prob 20 mina from the M1 to the start of what I'd call the pass propa, than half an hora mora to the topa.