The problem with Blonde is that many of us are friendly with Rob, knowing him from his playing days. Then there are formites that feel they know him through his passionate, no-nonsense diaries but, in order for
dusk till dawn to achieve its goal as the BEST, we have to be honest in our comments and not fanny foot around. I was privileged to get an invite for the £500 on Saturday and this is my report!
I arrived in the car park which is massive and the big
dusk till dawn logo shone like the North Star, with the state of the art security system in place around the entrance below it was very inviting. I had been well briefed prior to going with the competent staff sending me numerous email's, so it was a simple case of handing over my passport and getting the attractive black membership card. The staff in reception where excellent and very helpful. The door supervisors where very competent and helpful also. So l entered the main area off the club which is even better in real life and l met up with
Steve Read and Tony Nicholls for a natter. There where plenty of faces, and all where having a good time waiting for the Tournament to start with free drinks and food being given out. The tournament started and the structure was great, the chips and the tables are fantastic but it was slightly cramped. The TD was very professional and extremely competent and he needed to be as a few of the dealers where making nervous mistakes, but thats to be expected. The valets on the other hand where not good and the system they have in place for orders is not good. Wrong drinks, wrong food, plates not being lifted for 1hr and numerous glasses and cups littering the side tables where some things that come to memory. When the valets came out with drinks and would not use their initiative to collect some dirty ones to take back to the kitchen. Louise, who l think was the head valet dealt with anything that was getting out of hand and quickly rectified any wrong orders on our table. The tournament continued with its great structure and competent TD ensuring we stopped for breaks and we restarted on time. The toilets are a pleasure to use during the breaks and l believe there is a dedicated smoking area. I went out in 24th after a few mistakes on a table l could not afford to do this on with the likes of Kirdef, Tillerman,
Simon Nowab, Tom Rutter and
Ken Wong.
That was the only thing that l spotted that was wrong with
dusk till dawn and l'm sure Rob and Nick will put it right in the coming week's. One little thing l noticed was while tables where been vacated,
Simon Trumper was coming behind us cleaning them as though they where in his living room.
dusk till dawn is without a doubt a little oasis of poker paradise. If you have not been yet then you must, as it is FANTASTIC for the poker player whether it be small stakes or big stakes.
Congrats to Steve who has had to defeat a real stong field.
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