Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[tikay]

Well, we got through some Interviews at the WSOP-E party tonight.

Those that got the Sky Poker tikay interview treatment (just light stuff, nothing too heavy) included Phil Hellmuth, Dave Ulliott, Chris Jesus Ferguson, Jamie Gold, Roland de Wolfe, Howard Lederer, Annie Duke, Jenifer Harman (drool...), Donnachae O'Dea, Bruno Fituoissi, Marcel Luske, Tony G, Marc Goodwin, Andy Black, Michael Greco, Robert Cooper, Bruce "Elvis" Atkinson, and plenty others besides. Those that survive the Edit Suite will be on Sky Poker very soon, Editing starts in the morning. Sky Poker has come a long way in 7 months!

Lennox Lewis failed to show, & just as well. That damn Miami Vic had sent along a special "prop" for me to use in the Lennox Interview - a pair of boxing gloves!

Phil Hellmuth towered over me, he's really very tall. He acted as compere for the £500 Entry Charity Tourney, & this was "Nice Phil", very funny & a brilliant commentator, knows the odds of any match-up to a decimal place.

Jamie Gold astonished me, & this was a heavy interview. I'd never met him before, but I'd seen all the bad press the guy got. Watch the Interview & be greatly surprised at the man.

Bruno is a legend, I adore him, but Bruce Atkinson insisted on singing an Elvis song, sigh. And that was with a dozen Elvis Impersonators present. Marilyn Monroe was there too. (I don't think it was the real one). The Harman & Andy Black ones were particularly good, too.

I'm a bit disappointed with my evening though, I thought the Interviews could & should have been better, but the working conditions were awful. There was a very loud PA, loud music, & no room to work, & many of the interviews were unprepared - they arrived on the red carpet without notice, & I had to make it up as I went along. I hate the thought that I should have done better, I'm incredibly insecure, & tonight was a chance to shine. Mess these chances up & they'll ask someone else next time, there's plenty of competition at Sky. Ah well, what's done is done.

[snoopy1239]

I think I have more chance of winning the World Series than making it past the 'Edit Suite'. 

[tikay]

Also present were Richard Gryko, Ben Grundy, Andy Bloch, Alan Cunningham, Jac Arama, well, loads & loads of 'em.

Jen was there, looking just stunning, as was Dana, & snoops, who also got the interview treatment.

I was in a sorry state, too. I'd "nicked" myself shaving, marvellous, but then I had a little accident. I was following Jenifer Harman (as one would....) & she ducked under a metal barrier, & I followed sharpish, microphone at the ready. But she's very small, & a bit more lithe than me, & the barrier & my head had a coming together, resulting in an inch long ugly gash on my forehead, which bled & "wept" all evening. Everyone kept saying "ooh, your head, what have you done?", but it was not till I got back to the Hotel that I realised it was pretty visual. Another reason why I'm worried about the interviews being acceptable. Rest easy, Lynam.

I met with Jeffrey Pollack (WSOP Commissioner), Andy Pyrah (LCI London Honcho) & Oli Bowen (Betfair Big Suit) whom I'm working for tomorrow morning, & we've agreed to hook up for breakfast at 0930 at a nearby Hotel to prepare for the Press Conference properly. I really want that to go well, it's a good opportunity for me but not something I've done before. Ah well, nothing ventured. Can't teach an old dog new tricks? Probably not, but I'll give it my best shot. Gotta keep my Pension topped up.

[tikay]

I think I have more chance of winning the World Series than making it past the 'Edit Suite'. 

That's tosh. You were worryingly good.

[snoopy1239]

I thought you'd been in a fight when I saw that gash. 

[Bainn]

Also present were Richard Gryko, Ben Grundy, Andy Bloch, Alan Cunningham, Jac Arama, well, loads & loads of 'em.

Jen was there, looking just stunning, as was Dana, & snoops, who also got the interview treatment.

I was in a sorry state, too. I'd "nicked" myself shaving, marvellous, but then I had a little accident. I was following Jenifer Harman (as one would....) & she ducked under a metal barrier, & I followed sharpish, microphone at the ready. But she's very small, & a bit more lithe than me, & the barrier & my head had a coming together, resulting in an inch long ugly gash on my forehead, which bled & "wept" all evening. Everyone kept saying "ooh, your head, what have you done?", but it was not till I got back to the Hotel that I realised it was pretty visual. Another reason why I'm worried about the interviews being acceptable. Rest easy, Lynam.

I met with Jeffrey Pollack (WSOP Commissioner), Andy Pyrah (LCI London Honcho) & Oli Bowen (Betfair Big Suit) whom I'm working for tomorrow morning, & we've agreed to hook up for breakfast at 0930 at a nearby Hotel to prepare for the Press Conference properly. I really want that to go well, it's a good opportunity for me but not something I've done before. Ah well, nothing ventured. Can't teach an old dog new tricks? Probably not, but I'll give it my best shot. Gotta keep my Pension topped up.

Then get to bed ! ! !

[snoopy1239]

I've seen Mr Kendall complete a day's TV work after a 24 hour poker session and 2 hours sleep. I'm sure he can recall the location.

"Sleeping's a waste of time," as Leonardo Da Vinci once said.

I don't think he liked poker though.

[tikay]

I read Gareth Ower's (King Poker) APAT Championship interview tonight - what a stunner! He'll be a very worthy Champion & Ambassador for APAT, I feel quite sure.

I have not really congratulated him properly yet, but he really did deserve his victory, after running deep in APAT's twice previously. Gareth, we are very proud of you mate.

Nor have I really put the Luton European APAT to bed in my mind yet. We had, literally, scores of lovely PM's & e-Mails saying what a great & well-run Event it was, which is most heartening. Many of them mentioned the fact that we got all three days off smack on time - to the minute. And the breaks, too. We needed the Staff's help to do that, but, together, we achieved it. So it begs the question, why is it that only APAT can get Events off on time, & run punctually &, dare I say, professionally. Do 3pm Kick-Off Football matches start at 3.25? Never. Do Online Events start punctually? Always. I suppose I'm a bit obsessed with such detail, but it irritates me to death that we turn up at Tourneys half an hour early, then have to wait an hour because they never start on time.That's my time they are wasting. If I'm involved in helping to run the Event, it'll start on time. But many folks don't seem bothered, I suppose it's just me.

And another interesting thing was that we "embraced" the Dealers in the Event, & they responded perfectly, by entering into the spirit of the thing. Wonderful, really.

In truth, insofar as "orgnisation" of the Luton Event is concerned, we absolutely nailed it, it ran like clockwork, no dramas, no accidents, no rucks. Kudos to Des & Rich, who grafted big time. 300 runners, & we got it spot-on, even with 2.30pm starts & needing to get over 100 players registered with the Casino by 2.15 on Days 1A & 1B. I'm well proud of my little part in that, and of APAT overall. And Carmel, Simon, & the Luton Staff were perfect.

But once again, I struggled to go the pace, & even though I did very little, I was still on my feet for 3 x 14 hour consecutive days, roughly. Des & Tighty looked fresh as daisies, but I could barely stand by the time the Final ended. I just can't go the pace these days. They were very nice, & diplomatic about it, & Des said nice things, but I feel I'm letting them down, & not doing my share of the workload makes me feel very uneasy.

[tikay]

I've seen Mr Kendall complete a day's TV work after a 24 hour poker session and 2 hours sleep. I'm sure he can recall the location.

"Sleeping's a waste of time," as Leonardo Da Vinci once said.

I don't think he liked poker though.

Vienna?

[snoopy1239]

I've seen Mr Kendall complete a day's TV work after a 24 hour poker session and 2 hours sleep. I'm sure he can recall the location.

"Sleeping's a waste of time," as Leonardo Da Vinci once said.

I don't think he liked poker though.

Vienna?

 

[tikay]

I have a rapidly increasing desire to bury hatchets, as I suppose one does at a certain age, & I'm doing quite well. It's inevitable that little tiffs & standoffs occur from time to time, but I hate bad feeling & bad blood, or aggro, really, I just want to mend my fences with as many folks as I can before the dour Mr Reaper arrives. It's not like I've got dozens of relationships that have gone awry, but there are one or two that trouble me a fair bit. 

You may recall I had a bit of a lovers tiff with Richard Gryko. It was no big deal, he lobbed a little stone, I lobbed it back, but it sortsa upset me more than it should. I like the guy a lot, always been right by him, but something went off, & it caused friction. We met at Gatwick after flying back from Vegas on the same flight, hardly a time when either of us were likely to be in good heart or fence-fixing mode, & a bit of a stand-off developed, & we parted a bit "coldly". So it made my evening tonight when we chatted & everything was cool. You know, straight away, when you shake hands with someone if it's genuine, or just going through the motions, & tonight, it was as if nothing had happened. "You look pretty smart tonight Gramps" says young Richard, & I was quite flattered, wearing as I was, my new head-to-toe best Marks & Spencers apparel.

I also had something of a run-in with Catman a while back, who was extremely out of order in comments he wrote about me elsewhere, they were bang out of order, & "economical with the actuality".  I bade my time, until we bumped into each other a month or so back, then said my piece, big time. He readily acknowledged the, shall we say, "misunderstsnding", and a week later wrote a piece for the same website which praised me to the Heavens. A bit OTT really, but it was a grand gesture of reconciliation, & I respected him for it a lot. And I saw him at Luton a week or so later, thanked him for the article, & we were nice & "warm" tonight. In fact, we may start a family. Another tick on the list.

But it does not always work. I met a serial stone-thrower - rock lobber, really - at the Leeds GBPT, & decided to make one last - my 83rd attempt - to put the past behind us. And he threw it back in my face big time. Never mind, I'll getcha eventually, sunshine.

Peace shall prevail before I'm done.

[tikay]

The oddest thing happened tonight. There was a very pretty young lady present, with a Gentleman (a good friend of mine), & she sort of "took to me", & was on my arm & more for an hour or so, & we had a lovely chat. Yes, I'm sure she may have had a drinky-poo or two, but it was rather nice, I must say. She was late twenties I guess, beautifully dressed, if skimpily so, very sexy, & said the nicest things to me, & about me. It's been a while, if you get my drift, & it quite set the pulse racing.

Beware ladies, I'm up for it.

[The_nun]

She must have been tiny if she was on your arm.

[kinboshi]

She must have been tiny if she was on your arm.

[Snatiramas]

The oddest thing happened tonight. There was a very pretty young lady present, with a Gentleman (a good friend of mine), & she sort of "took to me", & was on my arm & more for an hour or so, & we had a lovely chat. Yes, I'm sure she may have had a drinky-poo or two, but it was rather nice, I must say. She was late twenties I guess, beautifully dressed, if skimpily so, very sexy, & said the nicest things to me, & about me. It's been a while, if you get my drift, & it quite set the pulse racing.

Beware ladies, I'm up for it.

Are you sure it wasn't Sue out of the the Sooty show