What was to be a wonderful weekend for me personally, started out with a minor nightmare ... whilst driving down with Jane we stopped off at a service station for a coffee and a bite to eat. I somehow managed to pay for the grub but then lose a tenner from the till to the seat .... £10 down before we had even hit the rip off toll bridge LOL.....
Any way, we get to Cardiff, unpack in Stalag 17 (etap hotel) and head of to the future inn to meet up with a few of the motley crew ... a few Bevvy's and then on to the casino to meet the rest of the guys, I love the blonde bashes, a chance to meet up with old friends and make new ones, and new friends were definitely made on this trip ... Mr & Mrs Boldie, a lovely couple ... the same with Mr & Mrs Laxie, she is as mental as a box of frogs, but what entertainment ... mr Laxie has some real gems on his phone too ... the hamster one still makes me laugh when i think about it.
Hinge & Brackett were there too (Shogun & Duke) what a lovely couple they make...

Paul & Charmaine , always a pleasure to spend time with ... (when paul isnt talking about poker OBV.)
plus the usual suspects ... Jizz , Rod, the ITB boys ,Brendan... etc etc etc ... I think the only plank i saw all weekend was when i looked in the mirror in the bathroom

Saturday started with the footy ... I think I played 2 minutes in the first game and the whole match against the ladies ... what a scream that was ... some amazing goalkeeping displays were evident, Jizz saving a penalty with his face was hysterical, but goal keeper of the day must have been Laxie, I had 2 shots ... well I call them shots, they were more like thunderbolts, I hit them so bloody hard and sweet they were bound to bust the net , but NO !!! Laxie saved them ... with her TITS!!! .... I offered to rub them better though

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Despite my limited appearance, I managed to con a medal for being on the winning team and was chuffed with that.
Onto the bash proper, and despite struggling through the pre bash presentations etc without a microphone, we managed to get a framed certificate and a couple of blonde shirts to Turny in recognition of all the hard work that he puts in to organise the footy, he does it every time without waiting to be asked and it is always a roaring success and enjoyed by everyone who makes the effort to take part. Brendan also got a framed certificate to celebrate his induction into the hall of fame, well deserved Bren, congrats mate.
The comp itself was all a bit of a dream for me, i never picked up any hands that can seriously damage your stack, no small/medium pairs that you have to lay down to a post flop raise etc ... it was all rags or raisng hands, and i was getting plenty through without having to show any cards.
Obviously I had my share of luck, I had ACES 3 times throughout the comp, and every time i got paid in full... v QQ (Mrs Boldie ... 99 (Sheriff) and 10 10 (rookie) .
By the time we had reached the final table I was pretty short on chips and was card dead for ages ... then i managed to get them in with AJ v Jimmys A9 and got a much needed double through... and it just kind of went from there.. I know Mel has stated that she was outdrawn as usual ... but she must have forgotten that during the final table she raised, the guy next to her re raised all in, and I looked down to see AK, although I had the re raiser covered , mel had a few more than me at the time and would have been seriously crippled if she called, so I pushed and Mel dwelt for ages before calling with AJ ??
The re raiser hell 99 v my AK and Mels AJ ... Board comes QQAKQ to knock out the 99 but give Mel a share of the pot ... She then got all her stack in to a pre flop re raise holding 66 v 88 but the board came a straight and again Mel survived with a split pot .... I can be 100% honest and say that the only time i ever got my chips in behind all comp was when it was heads up and even then i had a good chip lead and decided to take my chance ..
Mel and Myself heads up and I see 22, I raise, Mel pops in a hefty re raise and i dont like it, I ask her if she has a pair, she says yes ... I ask if she is being honest, she says yes , I ask if she will show ? .... she says she will as long as i show what i am passing... I fold my deuces face up and she shows J3 off and scoops... This played on my mind for the next few hands and although I know it was the right pass, I knew that Mel now thought she had my measure and would use that re raise again and try and get me off a hand, a few hans later into the heads up, I look down at J9 of diamonds, and raise it up, Mel announces raise and after fiddling with her chips for what seemed like ages, announced all in.... I think she is at it and trying to get me off another raised pot, and insta call with the soooooted J9 ... mel tabled A8 and the flop was dealt ... well it wasnt the worst flop i had ever seen, it came with the K & 10 of diamonds giving me 2 cards to catch a diamond for the flush or a Qfor a straight ... I didnt have to wait for the river as the very beautiful 2 of diamonds showed up on the turn leaving Mel drawing dead and me as bB5 Champion .... bloody hell, i was gobsmacked ... almost as much as everyone else was when i won it LOL ....
So I get my hands on the Trophy (and a very beautiful one it is too ) and the cash ... which believe me, looked equally as beautiful as the trophy.
Many many thanks for all the texts and handshakes from everyone , and the round of applause when i walked into the quiz on Sunday morning was amazing, ty for that.
I hope the next blonde bash is bloody ages away, i want to stay the champ as long as possible, cos we all know lightning never strikes twice in the same place dont we .... or do we
once again, thanks to everyone for their support, and i wear the crown of bB5 champ with immense pride and I promise not to gloat on about it .... well not too much anyway
