Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[Grier78]

"Readers of the Mirror think they run the country,
readers of the Guardian want to run the country,
and readers of the Independant actually do run the country.

What about readers of the Sun?
They don't care who runs the country as long as they have big breasts."
- From Yes Primeminister

The best thing to do IMHO is to stick to your principles, no-one expects you to go out and save the world but you can make a difference to the people you meet each day.

[tikay]

A terrific comp at Southend tonight - runners & riders, leaders & laggards shortly, but I'm toast, poo.

I could not decide how to play JJ to an early-pos R, & eventually decided to go for the shove, given the relative stack sizes & Blinds. I'd Passed - face up - TT & JJ in the previous Orbit - & rather than smooth call to see if I liked the flop, I decided to shove, hoping he'd let go, especially as I'd shown the ablity to put down big hands. In fact, I chose wrong, as the Flop was 9 high, I could have bet out & got him off on that, but he called the Shove, & the A turned to pair up his AK. My bad, but it can go wrong either way, I just chose wrong.

Pretty annoying, as the Table was huge fun, & I have to put it down as "unforced error".

I'd let go JJ earlier to a R and a RR - a correct Pass I think, though Woodley said he thought I should take a flop. We shall never know. No excuses, no complaints.

[AndrewT]

At least The Independent is trying to raise awareness of the situation in Africa.

And the sales figures of the Independent show just how much people are responding to that.

There is probably an endless list of sick, horrific things happening in the world every day.

Yes, there are. Though there's actually fewer horrific things happening now than at any time in previous human history.It is the fact that so many of us in the West have 'never had it so good' which allows us the time to sit and watch all these awful things on the telly and say 'we really should do something about that'. But the level of comfort we have inhibits the revolutions and sacrifices which would need to happen for anything to change.

Last week it was my flatmate's birthday (a big one, ending in a zero) and she'd booked a table at some big bar opposite the Lloyds building in the City. Even though this is usually the sort of place I'd only ever enter with a flamethrower and a temper I felt I should show my face for a couple of drinks after work and then go home. Being the last Friday before Christmas, the place was a bit of a mess when I got there at 6.15pm. Full of City boys celebrating their big fat bonuses, there were people who had clearly been there all afternoon and who had been pouring cocktails and champagne down their throats. Going to the toilet gave me a sight I'd not seen before - empty urinals, but a queue for the cubicles as a line of Julians waited to snort cocaine.

There was a , who was playing through the usual list of Christmas tunes, whilst a dance floor swayed with drunks. On came the Band Aid record, and I was struck by the sight of dozens of over-priviliged pricks, swirling £400 bottles of champagne around their heads, singing along to the chorus of 'Do They Know It's Christmas?'

'FEEEEEEEEEEED THE WORRRLD - LET THEM KNOW IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME'.

[tikay]

Had pre-comp din-dins at a little Italian eatery in Westcliff at the expense of Dave Courteney, with Compo & Jeff Buff. Spag Bol all round, marvellous.

Jeff Buff sells Mobile 'Phones or somesuch, but not "straight retail", he has some sort of edge & inside line with Vodafone I think. He bought his Son to Luton recently, very much a chip off the old block.

Dave Courteney - a giant of a man, & huge fun - runs a company which used to be a carpeting outfit, but I believe he does a lot of pine flooring these days, it's the "in thing" now I think. He has two lads, 9 & 6 I think.

Compo, of course, is a Professional Broadcaster, & has a son & a Daughter, the Son is 18, "Tom", & the absolutely beautiful Daughter is 13 I think, & not called Tom.

I am retired, & have a Cat. That's it.

Runners in the Tourney included Kev O'Leary, (Busted), Jim McShane (Busted, his AA turned over by KK), Compo (Busted, at-it), Me (Busted), Ian Woodley (rampant), Dave Clark & Dave Clark Jnr (wih his backing troupe, Kelsey & all the Daughters), Mark Friedman, Ryan Fronda, Stuart Nash & Joe Grech (who, with Jim McShane were on my opening Table), Chung & Van Hoang (no, really), Steve Holden, Dave Lloyd, Mick McCool, Riverdave Penly, Jim Read, & Albert Sapiano.

1 young lady who's game much imprressed - pre-accident - was a beatiful girl with the the unlikely moniker of Anna Cacka. Very strong player, has moves.

Woodley is incorrigable. As I arrived, he shouts out "anyone got a blanket for the old fella? - to keep his legs warm"......

I was in the Blinds with him, we see a flop, & it's me to act. I sling in 4 little round mini-cheese biscuits, & he almost passes!

There's a strong & "busy" lad on our Table, Mark Foggin I think - & he's well busy, & Woodley notices this.

There is, on Foggin's BB, a limp, limp, limp, it gets to Woodley, he limps too. Foggin bets 2,400, all Pass to Woodley, he gives some masterful speech-play. "I gotta monster, but I was worried about the early-pos limper. Go on then, I'm all-in". (About 15k!). Back to Foggin, an instant "I call".

Foggin tables A-Q, Woodley flips 5-4.......The 5 hits, exit a bemused Foggin.

Next hand Ryan Fronda shoves UTG with 8-8, on Woodley's BB, Woodley finds Queens, & busts another.

He won the Tourney last night, too, I believe, & may well get the double up.

I asked him how Steve Bovis was. Steve has been unwell for a good while, but he's on the mend, has lost a lot of weight, & is doing physiotherapy now. He had a bad road accident a few years back, & it's caused Steve the most awful medical problems. He's much missed.

Joe Grech was a bit miffed at the "Showdown Rule" used in Southend. If it goes Check-Check on the End, both hands have to be shown, & this seemed to upset Joe. It's fair to say, Joe has, shall we say, a wide-range of starting hands. He even tried mucking his hand between the Turn & River, but the Lady Dealer (who clearly had the hots - or was it the nots? - for me) fished them out afterwards & displayed them to one & all......

She also berated me - quite rightly too - after one of my hole cards accidentally got exposed whilst being dealt, it was an 8, & I mischievously showed my other card - also an 8 - before mucking before any action had taken place. Oops. She was from the Cardiff side of Poland, & we eventually made our peace.

[tikay]

At least The Independent is trying to raise awareness of the situation in Africa.

And the sales figures of the Independent show just how much people are responding to that.

There is probably an endless list of sick, horrific things happening in the world every day.

Yes, there are. Though there's actually fewer horrific things happening now than at any time in previous human history.It is the fact that so many of us in the West have 'never had it so good' which allows us the time to sit and watch all these awful things on the telly and say 'we really should do something about that'. But the level of comfort we have inhibits the revolutions and sacrifices which would need to happen for anything to change.

Last week it was my flatmate's birthday (a big one, ending in a zero) and she'd booked a table at some big bar opposite the Lloyds building in the City. Even though this is usually the sort of place I'd only ever enter with a flamethrower and a temper I felt I should show my face for a couple of drinks after work and then go home. Being the last Friday before Christmas, the place was a bit of a mess when I got there at 6.15pm. Full of City boys celebrating their big fat bonuses, there were people who had clearly been there all afternoon and who had been pouring cocktails and champagne down their throats. Going to the toilet gave me a sight I'd not seen before - empty urinals, but a queue for the cubicles as a line of Julians waited to snort cocaine.

There was a , who was playing through the usual list of Christmas tunes, whilst a dance floor swayed with drunks. On came the Band Aid record, and I was struck by the sight of dozens of over-priviliged pricks, swirling £400 bottles of champagne around their heads, singing along to the chorus of 'Do They Know It's Christmas?'

'FEEEEEEEEEEED THE WORRRLD - LET THEM KNOW IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME'.

A brilliant Post.

[tikay]

They deal the board "backwards" in Southend, exactly as they do in Barclona - very odd.
It goes.....

 

 

 

It's no big deal (oops....), but I'm curious as to "why?".

[ifm]

They deal the board "backwards" in Southend, exactly as they do in Barclona - very odd.
It goes.....

 

 

 

It's no big deal (oops....), but I'm curious as to "why?".

I don't understand what you mean, could you explain this?

[scottm]

It looks like after the flop, the turn and river are dealt to the left of the flop cards,  rather than to the right

[AndrewT]

They deal the board "backwards" in Southend, exactly as they do in Barclona - very odd.
It goes.....

 

 

 

It's no big deal (oops....), but I'm curious as to "why?".

I don't understand what you mean, could you explain this?

I assume Tikay means the dealer places the turn to the left of the flop, then the river to the left of the turn, so the board reads RTFFF instead of FFFTR.

[ifm]

oh right, i deal them at the bottom so it's
FFF
TR

Overlapping, is any of this odd?

[tikay]

Another oddity at Southend (not the Rendezvous, the other one) is that is actually two different Casinos, in joint ownership, in one, self-contained building. It used to be "Spielers" & "River Cardroom" I think, now it's "Mint Casino" & "Maxims Casino" I believe. One building, one set of steps to enter it, but then there are two, adjacent, Receptions Areas, one for each. Must be due to technical GC-related reasons I guess. Very odd, all the same.

The actual premises remind me of Grosvenor Blackpool, which juts out into the Irish Sea. At Southend, it's right on the promenade, on the "sea side" - & it actually sits above the Thames Estuary on a Concrete Raft. Bright lights twinkle across the Estuary, I don't know but I assume that's Canvey Island, though I thought that was further upstream.

They have spend hundreds of thousands refurbing the two Casinos, & they have done a great job, it's lovely. The Cardroom has good lux levels, despite being in the Basement, the Tables are nice, the Dealers competent & friendly, & Adam Lawler ("lurkio") is Mother Hen, & runs a very strict but fair Room. If anyone gets out of line, they get a quiet warning. That's how it should be, but DTD apart, I've never seen that anywhere else in the UK.

Sadly, despite spending all that cash on refurbing & Marketing, they have failed to spend a penny on a Customer-Care Course for one of the two lasses in Reception. As was the case when I last visited, she got full marks for being rude, insolent, curt, obdurate & generally as difficult as one can be. Even Compo - as polite & genuine a man as it's possible to find, got the full in-yer-face-I-don't-give-a toss-treatment. Why would they spend all that money making the place better & yet not give some thought to a lass who lacks the social skills necessary as the "frontsperson". I'm not talking about lack of eye-contact lack of smile, lack of warmth, lack of "Hi", I'm talking about full-on "I don't give a shit". That apart, a lovely Venue, with excellent Staff. All in my opinion, of course.

[tikay]

oh right, i deal them at the bottom so it's
FFF
TR

Overlapping, is any of this odd?

No, not overlapping, I think we are at cross-purposes here.

In the example I gave, the FLOP is 



Then, to the LEFT of the FIRST Flop Card - (the  ) is placed the Turn, thusly......

 

And now, to the LEFT of the Turn, is placed the River. (All looked at from the Dealers Seat).

 

Which is exactly opposite to the way it's done everywhre else in the World, Barcelona excepted, where it's done that way for Legal reasons.

Traditionally, the Board is dealt left to right. In Southend, it's dealt right to left.

I'm just curious, that's all, it does not trouble me as such.

[tikay]

They deal the board "backwards" in Southend, exactly as they do in Barclona - very odd.
It goes.....

 

 

 

It's no big deal (oops....), but I'm curious as to "why?".

I don't understand what you mean, could you explain this?

I assume Tikay means the dealer places the turn to the left of the flop, then the river to the left of the turn, so the board reads RTFFF instead of FFFTR.

Exactly that.

[RichEO]

Traditionally, the Board is dealt left to right. In Southend, it's dealt right to left.

I'm just curious, that's all, it does not trouble me as such.

It's left to right if you are the dealer, but it's right to left if you are in seat 5 

What are the legal reasons that affect Barcalona's board direction?

[RED-DOG]

They deal the board "backwards" in Southend, exactly as they do in Barclona - very odd.
It goes.....

 

 

 

It's no big deal (oops....), but I'm curious as to "why?".

I've seen a few left handed dealers do this, it does me 'ead in.