What a couple of weeks !!!!
It all stated with an invitation from Jonathan (alrightjack) from Blue Square to attend the opening event of the "Unusual suspects" poker competition, which was held in a posh bar/restaurant right on trafalgar square in London. I was informed that they were laying on a free bar and a buffet ... How could i refuse that :
as my good friends Simon Nowab and Burnley John were both involved i made my way to London on the train and met up with the boys at the Cumberland hotel in Marble Arch, also present was Ian "Vidal" "At-It" Bradley, who had the pleasure of sharing a room with me
So on we went to this posh venue, the table was upstairs in a private room and the game got underway .. meanwhile down in the bar area i was sampling the delights of a Jack Daniels bottle before going back upstairs to watch some of the play ... trouble is, as each player was knocked out, they went downstairs to the bar and it would have been rude for me to leave them to drink on their own, so i accompanied them and felt obliged to have a drink or three with them ... Then came the announcement i had been waiting for ...THE BUFFET IS READY ... ahhhh thoughts off eggy sarnies, pork pies, sausages on sticks and trifle made my mouth water as i skipped up the stairs like wayne sleep on speed. What greeted me on arrival was nothing like i had imagined ... there was a huge plate of what i assumed to be the results of vigorous weeding of a garden path (someone later informed me that it was some sort of salad ...Like i would know that !!!) there was also loads of raw fish and other such unedible fayre ... in fact the only edible part of the entire spread was the bread basket ..so i indulged
... I mentioned to Jonathan that i was expecting egg sarnies etc etc and advised him that he could order a pizza or i am going back to the bar .... after a long dwell up, and visible signs of panic on his face, he decided to go for the bluff and said he wasnt going to order pizza.... needless to say the barman and me are now on first name terms and he congratulated me on drinking more JD in a night than he had sold over the entire previous week lol ..The bar bill came to over a grand, and i like to think i was responsible for a good chunk of that
as for the result, the Burnley boys came 1st & 2nd and a good time was had by all, we returned to our hotel and had a few MORE drinks and then I was informed by the Burnley boys that i was in effect being kidnapped and taken down to Brighton the next day, All protests from me regarding my lack of fresh undies and clothes for more than an overnight stay fell on deaf ears and the next day i was in Wombles car along with John , Simon and Vidal and heading through London en route to the seaside
We arrived in brighton and checked into our hotel, the Seattle, very nice place right on the marina ... and staggering distance from the casino. also in view was a 24 hour Asda supermarket so my underwear dilemma was solved and I was saved from having to turn them inside out on rotating days
The Rendezvous at brighton is a friendly casino, the comps were run by a chap called Barry, he also did the southend comps as well... i must say that i am impressed with the rendezvous group, they seem to have everything running very smoothly, and all the staff seem to be happy and smiling which is really quite refreshing.
Barry "Thee from Thine" Neville joined us on day 2 and thats when the fun REALLY started
While the lads were playing their comp, i was doing my job and railbirding like the pro i am
but what i really hate is the breaks in comps, why do people think that as i am only watching and not playing that they can bore me to tears with their hard luck stories and "if only" hands ... i can take it from my mates, but when total strangers tell me ... i make my excuses and leave lol. this time i edged away from the habitual bore, and made my way to the Fruit machines, and in an attempt to make my escape plausable i shoved a tatty looking five pound note into the slot, Now i have to confess that i rarely play slot machines, and i dub them a "Tax on the stupid" but on my third spin something weird happened and i saw the words flash on screen..." CONGRATULATIONS, YOU WIN £200 .. Bloody hell, i thought im cashing in after this fiver has gone and with a couple more wins I cashed £273 from 1 five pound investment LOVELY JUBBLY
Later that night, barry and john had retired to bed whilst myself, womble, simon and Vidal went to Asda for provisions.... which consisted of shit loads of chocolate and sweets and the token piece of fruit to make the cashier think that we are not complete slobs
On returning to our adjoining rooms, we were shocked to see "Thee from Thine" laying on top of his bed absolutely starkers, fortunately he was laying on his stomach, but never the less, the view was enough to scare the bravest of men ........... Thats when the idea struck me.. the magnum that i was eating wasnt really tasting too pleasant when mixed with the alcohol that was consumed earlier, so after consultation with the rest of the gang I peeled the chocolate off the magnum, and tiptoed into Barry's room and strategically placed the chocolate on his arse ... while the cowards peeked round the door giggling like schoolboys.......
we retired to bed and contemplated barry's reaction when he awoke.
Barry received a phone call early on the next day, and after finishing his call he got up and went to answer a call of nature, on his return from the bathroom he noticed the absolute mess on his sheets and immediately began to panic LOl he admitted to sniffing the sheets and said that the relief was almost overwhelming .... im just glad that we locked the adjoining door because Barry was in a killing mood (which only served to make it funnier)
We had a good trip, and a good laugh, these trips with real friends are worth their weight in gold, and i really really love them. We left Brighton on the friday, and i arrived back in Colchester about 8pm friday evening ... the next scheduled trip for me was the Blackpool festival in november ........ BUT while sitting at my PC on saturday night , I made the spur of the moment decision to visit the boys in walsall for the "Grosvenor Grand Prix" and at 11.30 i started the 2 and a bit hour drive to walsall........... TO BE CONTINUED ..
I hope you enjoyed part one, I will get part 2 up as soon as poss
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