Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[action man]

So we finished work at around 1am this morning, after a 15 hour stint - that'd be a few hours of work, & a dozen hours of hanging around, awaiting Interview opportunities, camera set-ups, "the light" da de da. The GUKPT Commentator is also the most wonderful sleeping pill, he has a Geordie "flat" monotone voice, never rising or falling a decibel, & it was hard not to nod off at times. "Pass, Pass, Pass, Pass, Pass, Pass. They all Passed". It's very probably much harder to do than it seems, I suppose. Each to their own, like. He's totally professional, smartly-attired, & very proud of his role, as he should be, but you know, you either "take to" some Commentators, or you don't. I should know, with my legions of fans, both of whom are wholly loyal. When Lord Raab commentates, he gets some "buzz" going, he really can rev up the Rail, it's a lovely thing to see, & listen to, because he adds a little colour & depth to the commentary. (Hark at the "expert" sermonsing, eh?).

Anyway, it's 1am, work is done & the gear is pcked up, so we gotta wander back to the Big Blue.

"2 seats in the Dealers Choice Cash Game" rings out from the PA. Compo's eyes light up - "come on Tone, let's have an hour".

"NO Dave, sod that. Not in a month of Sundays, I'm ****ed." Go play on your own, I'm off to bed."

Phatomch was the best announcer there is/was/ever will be

[tikay]

So, we sit in a little DC Game, £200 sit-down, nice & cosy, no daft stuff, nobody got much on the Table.

Paul Parker arrives, & Mann Ip is there, too. Most "old school" players will know Mann, he used to play the circuit, especially Blackpool (his home base), Walsall, Salford, Sheffield, Nottinham, all over really, but mainly the Northern venues. He's retreated to just playing Blackpool, the small to medium cash games I think, & he seems much more settled, & comfy, & I think he pays his way quite nicely thank you. A total Gent, in my experience, no airs & graces, no bullshit, likes a bit of decorum at the Table, & I like him a lot, as much as any of the Blackpool crew I'd say, (though they are all quite wonderful, I hasten to add.....) & with Paul Parker, champagne flowing, in full flow, & Compo, it was worth the pull-up for the craic alone.

Then a new guy arrived, Billy Loose Goose, & what's more, he had a grand in front of him.

I pull-up £200, & do the lot, then another £200, which I run up to £950, every chip of which came from Billy Goose.

So, if I had but an ounce of sense I'd get up & go - the days's been long enough, & I've just nicked nearly £550.

They kept calling Padooki, sigh, & I kept missing, sigh too. It should be poker games only, eh Ralph?......

So, £550 up, & time for bed. One more orbit. How many times we say that? "Just one more orbit"? I turned £500 into £1,100 at Luton after PTP work on Friday night, then lost £600 of it (all my profit) to Dave Courteney in that last, fatal, orbit.

Back to Blackpool. I'm dealt A-4-5-x, three suited, & Mr Goose bets a tenner, we all call. I change one, & miss. The Bet is £25. Call, one card, miss.

Next street, it's £100. I gotta Pass here, I'm way ahead on the night, why risk it? I call the £100, & draw the 6 padooki, happy days.

Compo moves in for £95, out of turn, erroneously, but I am first to Bet, & still make it £200, as originally intended. Mr Goose makes it £500.......

You know the rest. Compo had the 7 padooki, & Mr Goose declares 6 padooki, & as my 6 padooki is the nut bad 6, I know I'm done for, & sure enough, he has 6-4-2-A. I really don't know why I did not re-shove his RR - but it saved me £280. So that was that, I'd turned a £550 profit into a £120 loss. It's a born skill.

We went & Railed the £300 Final for a bit, just to listen to Chaning holding court. Mickey Wernick was Tableside (4th) & Neil, Henning, & my Sky Poker colleague James Browning were all about even in chips 3 handed, & Parker (another great survivor) came & sat Tableside. I'd pay to listen to Neil, Parrker, & Wernick & Co doing their lightly oiled anecdotal stuff.

I rather enjoyed dipping my toe back into the Fressie Circuit last week, truth to tell.

[tikay]

So we finished work at around 1am this morning, after a 15 hour stint - that'd be a few hours of work, & a dozen hours of hanging around, awaiting Interview opportunities, camera set-ups, "the light" da de da. The GUKPT Commentator is also the most wonderful sleeping pill, he has a Geordie "flat" monotone voice, never rising or falling a decibel, & it was hard not to nod off at times. "Pass, Pass, Pass, Pass, Pass, Pass. They all Passed". It's very probably much harder to do than it seems, I suppose. Each to their own, like. He's totally professional, smartly-attired, & very proud of his role, as he should be, but you know, you either "take to" some Commentators, or you don't. I should know, with my legions of fans, both of whom are wholly loyal. When Lord Raab commentates, he gets some "buzz" going, he really can rev up the Rail, it's a lovely thing to see, & listen to, because he adds a little colour & depth to the commentary. (Hark at the "expert" sermonsing, eh?).

Anyway, it's 1am, work is done & the gear is pcked up, so we gotta wander back to the Big Blue.

"2 seats in the Dealers Choice Cash Game" rings out from the PA. Compo's eyes light up - "come on Tone, let's have an hour".

"NO Dave, sod that. Not in a month of Sundays, I'm ****ed." Go play on your own, I'm off to bed."

Phatomch was the best announcer there is/was/ever will be

He was certainly excellent - poker is not a spectator sport at Live Venues, but he made it fun, & watchable, & to be fair, so does Jonathan. You HAVE to rev it up a tad, in my view. Not too much, but a bit. I guess it's subjective. Geordie Ian kinda reminds me of that MC in Pulp Fiction who introduces Travolta & the Bird in that "Dance Comp" at the $5 milk shake/Burger Bar. Take that as a compliment Ian.

PS - Note me half-dissing Ian after I've described how shite I was yesterday. Gotta love the irony.

[tikay]

OI kendall, i added you on facebook about 8 days ago, still waiting on a reply

OK, OK, patience man!

I'm a bit Facebook reticent - wish I'd never started on it really, but I'm sort of trapped on it now, with a lot of genuine pals on there. But it's such a time-sponge, & for that reason alone, I'm totally Facebook passive, mostly just "accepting" Friend requests. As you can imagine, a lot of the Sky Poker players sign up, so I don't like to ignore the requests. I only "reject"(= not accept)  those who I genuinely dislike, & those who have no friends in common with me - a tell-tale clue as to identity I think.

I'm wholly Facebook ignorant, so Chili Updates my "Facebook Requests" every fortnight or so, when I go see her to get paperwork help, & she sorts the wheat from the chaff. I imagine she'll allow me to accept you......

Which reminds me, I've had scores of Facebook Messages, "gee, you look good in this video" or somesuch, purporting to come from "friends", Thewy etc - but they are bogus, a virus, or "worm" I think, so I've not opened any except the first. Chili said that, so it must be true. She's a girlie, & they know these things.

[AlexMartin]

It really is extraordinary how tiredness affects us - it's worse than alcohol in some ways.

Sigh.....

It's true I tell ya, I've started to get it sussed - lack of sleep makes us tired.

Thank the Lord I never discovered it sooner, I'd have missed so much of my life. And climbing into bed when shattered is one of those really great feelings, as with eating when really hungry - it becomes a pleasure

Perhaps I'm blessed but I've always found climbing into bed a pleasure.   

!

room

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get

[tikay]

Thank you for the Gandhi quotes Kev, & Bainn for the answer, too.

He seems an interesting type, that Gandhi fella. More reading added to my list!

I have suddenly found an Xmas gift for myself - I don't do Xmas, or gifts, actually, but there is a David Attenborough "Life on ...." DVD Set, for £35 I think. Now that is serious value. I'd pay 10 times that.

[tikay]

never mentioned it before gramps, but cool diary. I like the poker people stuff a lot. well done in blackpool too. next time no dealz!!!

Why no dealz?

When "deal talk" arises, I have a Rule - "ask the Chip Daddy, I'll go with the flow".

And Goodwin said "you ARE the Chip Leader". I was in total shock, & he caught me off-guard......

But I have no regrets. None at all.

In which case I'm afraid to say they that I think that they had you over  

Although I must admit that I would not have minded being had over like that myself.....

Possibly, but I was 100% happy. I could handle the young lad OK - he just played "hands", but Goodwin would probably take my pants down. Well, he did.

And I know there's no logic to this, but.......I've run bad for a few months - since Vegas really, a few Luton wins apart, and a £2k (I think) Stanley Luton score, and the odd grand here & there - so I was a bit low on confiidence. Plus, I'd returned for Day 2 as Billy Low Stack, made the Cash as Low Stack, & Finalled as Low Stack, so I must have been close to busting scores of times, & just kept getting lucky.

So something inside me said "you've used up your luck, don't be greedy, take the £11k & play for the £4k". I'm sure my new friend Mr Gandhi would have had a saying to explain that.

[tikay]

Following Surinder Sunar's Omaha win at the MasterClassics last week, I was doing some research on him, for work purposes.

I discovered that he'd first Cashed at the MasterClassics as far back as 1993 - that was 16 MasterClassics ago. What an amazing stat that is.

How many of us had even started playing poker 15 years back? How many who were playing then have survived until now? Precious few!

I delved further, & though these sort of Stats are notoriously unreliable, & "winnings" are nonsense, as they exclude "losings" (how daft is that?), & it's Tourneys only, not Cash, B & M only, not Online, he's Ranked as the 3rd winningist (like that word?) player, ranked by Cashes, in the UK.

Respect is due, I'd say.

[DUNK619]

The big blue is indeed an ok hotel.

But.

The room service pizza was the single most disgusting thing I've ever tasted.

I have stayed there three years, every year the internet didn't work in my room and "would be fixed next week".

The noise of the roller coaster wakes up the poor poker player at some unearthly hour.

I won't stay there again.

if you want a good hotel in blackpool then try the one most of us stayed in for the team challenge, I can't remember the name but I'm sure someone can. it's the other side of the casino from the big blue, about a 5-10 minute walk along the prom.

the rooms are good, it's cheaper than the big blue, the bar stays open even when they say it's shut, the free internet works everywhere and the pizza that they serve 24 hours is really quite good

i think it was called the carousel

[Gamblor21]

Western for the £200 tonight Tony? I'm considering venturing out there.

[tikay]

Western for the £200 tonight Tony? I'm considering venturing out there.

Very probably young Sir.

Not certain, but I'm currently 75%-40% in favour, as I'm down South today anyway.

Jen was thinking of coming along, too, but I've not heard back from her yet. And Compo is working, I think.

Is it 8pm, or 8.30?

[Gamblor21]

Western for the £200 tonight Tony? I'm considering venturing out there.

Very probably young Sir.

Not certain, but I'm currently 75%-40% in favour, as I'm down South today anyway.

Jen was thinking of coming along, too, but I've not heard back from her yet. And Compo is working, I think.

Is it 8pm, or 8.30?

8.30 start 7000chips 30min clock, i rang yesterday about it... Tell Jen i'll play Kalooki with her, that should drag her out the house!

[tikay]

Western for the £200 tonight Tony? I'm considering venturing out there.

Very probably young Sir.

Not certain, but I'm currently 75%-40% in favour, as I'm down South today anyway.

Jen was thinking of coming along, too, but I've not heard back from her yet. And Compo is working, I think.

Is it 8pm, or 8.30?

8.30 start 7000chips 30min clock, i rang yesterday about it... Tell Jen i'll play Kalooki with her, that should drag her out the house!

I just rang her Jen-ness.

"The Western tonight then?" I enquired.

"No chance, can't be arsed".

"Bradders said he'd play you at Kalooki".

"I'll be there".

She actually said you are quite good at Kalooki, & "Gin-based games". I put her right, said I was Luton Kalooki Champion, which she bought.

Anyway, I'm buying her dinner, at The Western, at 7.30pm - you are very welcome to partake, followed by Kalooki, then the Tourney.

No Kalooki Slow-Rolls, purlease.

[Gamblor21]

I'll be there for tea. Yes no slowrolling please!

[Lucky]

Not certain, but I'm currently 75%-40% in favour,

I'm new round here but how does this work?