Vagueness and the Aftermath - A sporadic diary

[tikay]

Tom, is Raif enjoying himself? Tell him Arsenal won 3-1 yesterday, please.

What Hotel are you in now?

How's the weather? It's way too hot (for me) in July.

Food?

Nocturnal flatulence?

[RED-DOG]

While walking on the strip, I was reminded of a song that my mother used to sing when I was a little boy. The song is tells the story of a young man who has left his sweetheart back home is his native Ireland and come to London to seek his fortune.

The sweetheart is curious as to what the big city is like, and no doubt a little worried lest in the midst of all the excitement and glamour, the young man might forget about a simple Irish girl, and the little village tucked away in the shadow of a mountain. So she writes him a letter filled with questions, and his reply forms the lyrics of the song.



Oh, Mary, this London's a wonderful sight
With people here working by day and by night
They don't sow potatoes, nor barley nor wheat
But there' gangs of them digging for gold in the streets
At least when I asked them that's what I was told
So I just took a hand at this diggin' for gold
But for all that I found there I might as well be
Where the Mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea.

I believe that when writing a wish you expressed
As to how the fine ladies in London were dressed
Well, if you believe me, when asked to a ball
Sure they don't wear no top to their dresses at all.
Oh, I've seen them myself and you could not in truth
Say if they were bound for a ball or a bath
Don't be startin' them fashions now, Mary Macree,
Where the mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea.

I've seen England's king from the top of a bus
And I've never known him, but he means to know us.
And tho' by the Saxon we once were oppressed,
Still I cheered, God forgive me, I cheered with the rest.
And now that he's visited Erin's green shore
We'll be much better friends than we've been heretofore
When we've got all we want, we're as quiet as can be
Where the mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea.

You remember young Peter O'Loughlin, of course
Well, now he is here at the head of the force
I met him today, I was crossing the Strand
And he stopped the whole street with a wave of his hand
And there we stood talkin' of days that are gone
While the whole population of London looked on
But for all these great powers he's wishful like me
To be back where the dark Mourne sweeps down to the sea.

There's beautiful girls here, oh, but never you mind
With beautiful shapes nature never designed
And lovely complexions all roses and cream
But O'Loughlin remarked with regard to the same
That if at those roses you venture to sip
The colours might all come away on your lip
So I'll wait for the wild rose that's waitin' for me
Where the Mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea

[RED-DOG]

Tom, is Raif enjoying himself? Tell him Arsenal won 3-1 yesterday, please.

What Hotel are you in now?

How's the weather? It's way too hot (for me) in July.

Food?

Nocturnal flatulence?

Ralph is wonderful company, we really are having a ball. We spend our time eating, gambling, leering at pretty girls, laughing and putting the world to rights. It's just that damn sleeping that gets in the way. I'm having to do it for at least 4 hours every day.

We are in the Golden Nugget now. It's much better than where we were, the rooms are beautiful and the people are sort of real, if you know what I mean.

The weather is gorgeous. somewhere around the low to mid 80's I would guess. hot, but not too hot to walk around. I don't think I would come here in the summer, (Unless I won a package of course) I enjoy strolling around too much to be tied to the air con.

Nocturnal flatulence is worryingly absent. I must get some vegetables from somewhere, I have my reputation to consider.

PS- I'm learning Yiddish.

Oy! 

[RED-DOG]

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[tikay]

It's much better than where we were, the rooms are beautiful and the people are sort of real, if you know what I mean.

I know exactly what you mean!

Enjoy.

[RED-DOG]

On Friday I played a $160 Freezout at Binions. Around 100 runners and a lovely structure. It was a really fun tournament with loads of banter and some great characters.

I had a bit of luck and got chips early when during the second level a big cowboy with a hat the size of dustbin lid and a face like a rivet catchers glove was moved to my left.

I was passed around to me in mid position so I raised it up with 8 9 of clubs, Hoss gave me a mean stare and called.

The flop came 7 A 10 with 2 clubs, I checked, and Hoss kinda overbet it, firing in about 1.5 x the pot, I pushed all in. (Maybe not the best play but hey, it's a $160 comp and I'm having fun)

He looked at me like I had just spit in his grits, and he folded. 

A few hands later, I find aces and make a standard raise, Hoss immediately re-pops it. Again I push all in, Hoss insta-calls and flips over his kings. When he sees my aces he yells "Hot dang!" and pushes his chair back to stand up, towering over me.

My aces hold and he departs, but before he goes he says to me, "Son, If you ever find yourself in Delaware County, you make sure y'all come visit with us, ya hear? I got me real purty sump hole I'd like to show ya"

[Robert HM]

Nice to hear you're making friends

[Karabiner]

Tom, is Raif enjoying himself? Tell him Arsenal won 3-1 yesterday, please.

What Hotel are you in now?

How's the weather? It's way too hot (for me) in July.

Food?

Nocturnal flatulence?

I'm having a great time here with Tom and am so happy to have made The Nugget our new base.

I've not done anything of note in the Binion's Open tourneys other than an 11th place finish in the PLO, but have started to show some profit in the $1/$2 NLH games in The Nugget which canbe very lively indeed and have an unlimited pullup, sometims there can be $20k on the table !

I think we're both thoroughly over the jet-lag now so it's onward and upward from here as we've survived what I always think is the critical period of the first few days in LV without any serious damage.

[Kev B]

Back home from Thanet and catching up with you guys. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. Love the description of the dude in the cowboy hat, quality.

As I'm typing this Jools has just booked us into Flamingo for 11th Jan. I'm excited already.

[MANTIS01]

Yep, knew Tom would bust someone in a cowboy hat.

[RED-DOG]

Just a brief update because I've just got in and now Ralph wants me to go out again.

Played the Binions comp twice, went deep both times but missed the cash. During the last comp I have good chips about mid way through and I raise it up with pocket . The flop comes 9 2 10 rainbow, bet and get one caller. the turn comes a 6, I bet again and again he calls. The river is an A, I bet again and he sets me in. I'm about to call when he lifts his card to look at them, I can plainly see that he has pocket tens, so of course I fold. Ralph said it was an omen, but I went bust on an outdraw in the next level so so much for his premonitions.

We went to play the comp at the Venetian yesterday but we weren't carrying our ID so they wouldn't let us in. We played $1/2 at the MGM Grand instead and I managed to book my first win of the trip.

We had the most amazing meal in the restaurant last night, (Ralph eats like a pig BTW) 3 courses, starters, prime rib main, desert. and a carafe of wine for $50, including a generous tip. Valooo"

I was playing $1/2 in the Nugget cardroom in the early hours of this morning when an old boy who had been quiet all night suddenly piped up, "Two Amish women picking potatoes. One holds out two large spuds and says to the other,

"These remind me of my husband's balls"

"Your husbands balls are that big?"

"I'm not talking about the size, I'm talking about the dirt".



The Yiddish is coming along but I'm also beginning to talk like an American.

OK, Have to go, Ralph is pacing the room waiting to go for breakfast. Oy! The Cockamaimy Chazer.

[Pelham Boy]

Never mind the Bellagio fountains or the Canal's at The Venitian etc......... these are the best views on offer.

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[RED-DOG]

I don't really know how to explain the strip v downtown thing, except to say, that downtown is the right choice for me personally. The strip is great to visit, we go there most days. ($5 bus pass, get on and off as many times a you like, runs every 10 mins, great for between casino's on the strip) but I'm just not comfortable staying there. The big hotels are like islands, I feel marooned.

I need to be staying Downtown where I can walk about, where there are a few grifters and grafters, where I can go into a shop and buy a bottle of milk for a dollar, and eat in a restaurant where the waitress chews gum, calls me Hun, and looks like she has kids to feed.

When I read Des Wilson's book, "Ghosts at the Table" I didn't really get it, but when you sit in the older downtown cardrooms, you know exactly what he means. These once magnificent but now slightly faded casino's seem to me to be like old film stars. Although they are no longer quite so young and handsome as they once were, they have seen it all and done it all. They can tell a million stories, they are far more interesting than the young whippersnappers, and they deserve a little respect.

[RED-DOG]

I had my first ever shoe-shine in Binions the other day. Floyd has been shining shoes here for at least 150 years.

He told me he's used to do all the greats on a regular basis. Doyle, Amarillo Slim, Puggy Pearson, Johnny moss etc. Mind you, He also told me that the King of England has asked him to go and be the official shoe-shiner in London Palace, but he's too busy to go...

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[The_nun]

Old guy dealer at Binions loves to tell his tales of when he was filmed dealing. Great character.