"Dusk till Dawn" Poker Club In Nottingham Diary (by Rob Yong)

[robyong]

Hey Rob, just out of curiosity, what did you think of the "22" game in the Concord?

Didn't play it Red, but I'm a 21 is best player, would take some adjusting to for me!

[robyong]

I met with my Finance Director today to run through how we are going to intergrate and control the finances of DTD. I had done some quick calculations on the number of accounting transactions that I expect to go through the business and we both came to the conclusion that it would be necessary to have a dedicated accountant who just looked after the DTD business.

At sf group the finance department supply detailed financial analysis as well as the normal "run of the mill" accounts which help the Directors control all areas of their business, and although DTD will be a much smaller business that sf group, the same principles will apply. Unfortunatley, yet another unbudgeted cost................

My lawyers are really starting to annoy me now, asking for information that has either previously been supplied or that they could get from other sources. We have scheduled a preliminery meeting with the Gaming Commission to run through the prcedures and policies of DTD, in particular, how we handle cash, as they are red hot on money laundering. I am really hoping that they give me a bit of latitude on this, as the less hard cash we have on the premises, the better. The "cashless" membership system Darren has been looking at, similar to the one that is used on cruise ships, has really got me buzzing.

We have the final presentation from the designer and contractor that did The Boardway Casino, tomorrow. They are coming to my house for the meeting, I like to see people in more relaxed surroundings, I find you can pick up a lot more about them.

Time is closing in on Nick to make a decision on the people he wants to work with to help him on the refurbishment, as I have to submit final floor plans to the Gaming Board and the owners of the building next week. We've really tried to hold off as long as possible to make the right decision as you only get once chance at a refurb of this size and its got to be top notch (at the right price). Now that Nick is on the "homestraight" with his apartments project he is starting to get his teeth into DTD and come up with new ideas and concepts.

I have signed and faxed a "subject to contract" agreement for the poker software for our online side today. We got a reasonable deal but they were not as negotiable as I had hoped. In all, we considered 7 companies, it was a real minefield, with plenty of "smallprint" to catch you out, which I guess you should expect of an unregulated highly profitable industry.

Development of our poker client will begin in April and Pete will be heading this up. I see this as way we may be able to subsidise some of the overspends on the club, but the % of gross rake you actually receive after banking charges, royalties and various charges is not substancial unless tou can afford to set yourself as a cage, such as VC or Bluesquare. In effect, being a skin, you are an "affiliate" with a slightly higher commission scheme and more hassle, but we need the software to run our satelittes for the club which I consider a key factor in generating large fields of players to increase prize pool sizes.

The enthusiam from my project team is growing, and we are already recieving applications for jobs at the club 6/7 months before it opens. I've just spent the last 7 hours updating the project plan and sorting out all my admin and feel a lot more organised. Been following Jen in Monte Carlo on BP, what a good performance in a top class field.

Cheers Rob

[bobby1]

I looks to be going great Rob, all the best mate.

[ripple11]

Great updates as usual Rob.....keep up all the hard work,we all know it will be worth it in the end

[AdamM]

if anyone sees or speaks to rob today or over the weekend can you ask him to call me please

[robyong]

I've been away all week on my annual trip to Chelternam. Ideally my horse, Hi Humphrey would have been running but its injured and running crap anyway, I broke even after a weeks betting so not a terrible result. The hospitality there was excellent but it was a draining week due to the amount of guiness drank every day.

I would have really liked to go the the Blondebash this weekend but had to go to the quarterly conference at sf group this weekend. Blondepoker is going from strength to strength with the addition of there poker software. I downloaded it and it looks excellent. Hopefully people will play through their skin on tribecca and the BP crew will start to get there rewards for the investment they have put into the site over the last couple of years. Hoefully, BP will be able to hold some live tournamants at DTD when we get the club open.

I'm still struggling with our logo, and at £100 per hour for a designer, I've been racking up the costs. Logos are such a personal thing, but I'm trying to get something that works well on the web site, poker clothig, chips, cards, tables, uniforms and signage, and just can't seem to get it 100%. I'm missing deadlines by delaying this, but logos have always been a problem for me.

I am submitting the floor plans to the lessor, liqor licencing and the gaming board next week. I lot of chopping and changing has gone on here and we have gone for the most elaborate and therefore most expensive design. this gives us 25,000 sq ft of space and allows us for 66 tables in total, each with plently of room. Some of the key points of the final design are listed below:

Ground Floor
Reception
Bar / Restaurant with 50 internet terminals built into the furniture (vegas style)
Tournament area - 41 tables + raised final table and 3 valet stations
Cash Room - 12 tables
High Limit Room - 3 tables


1st Floor
Corporate Area with TV studio, bar and 10 tables
VIP Nightclub
Viewing Gallery over downstairs tournamant area

Its hard to visualise, but it looks amazing. If we can produce a place like this that my friends, collegues and customers can use, I'd be so proud. We have a few hurdles to get over, planning consent and the work needed to 1st floor, as the site is built on a methane plant! This means that we must drill down 10m throught the existing floor and put in extra steel supports and concrete filling. Its an awful lot of hassle and we could go for a simpler design, but we gonna be stuck with it for at least 15 years, so might as well do it right. Again, this causes the costs to spiral further oustide of the original budget, but it will be worth it from my point of view, even if its not really good commerical business sense.

Pete begins work on our online site in April. Rather than go through a cage, we have done a deal direct with the software and banking facility. The contract is with my solicitors but I've signed a "letter of intent" so hits 99% gonna go through.

I am conscious that BP have set up their own site and wish them every success in this, so I will not be marketing our online site through the BP forum, this would not be right. Also, marketing our live club through BP would be indirectly marketing our online site, so I need to be careful here aswell. Last thing I want to do is upset anyone at BP. Consequently, I think the generous "free marketing" that BP have given me should probably come to an end as well. DC and TK have always refused to take anything from me which is much appreciated. I probably should speak to them to see what they want me to do about this diary etc

Cheers Rob







 
 

[WellChief]

Very surprised no-one has commented on this yet, maybe it was missed due to everyone being at the blonde bash.

I hope this thread can continue.

[poker_biker]

Very surprised no-one has commented on this yet, maybe it was missed due to everyone being at the blonde bash.

I hope this thread can continue.

 

I am enjoying hearing updates about the club. I actively look for this thread when I logon.

[ericstoner]

 

I hav followed this tread since it began,it would be a shame if commercial pressures force its demise.

[Delboy]

I hav followed this tread since it began,it would be a shame if commercial pressures force its demise.

What he said

[MPOWER]

Very surprised no-one has commented on this yet, maybe it was missed due to everyone being at the blonde bash.

I hope this thread can continue.

 

I am enjoying hearing updates about the club. I actively look for this thread when I logon.

[charmaine]

Very surprised no-one has commented on this yet, maybe it was missed due to everyone being at the blonde bash.

I hope this thread can continue.

 

I am enjoying hearing updates about the club. I actively look for this thread when I logon.

Agreed

[Rod Paradise]

I certainly would want to see this thread continue. Let's face it - the Tank's 4000 STTs thread could be considerred advertising for Pokerstars, but it's a great thread & a must read for many Blondeites (as is this thread).

DTD will be GREAT for Poker, as is BP - so for the good of the game I'd think that the various commercial sensitivities could be put aside & the association remain.

[robyong]

I understand where you guys are coming from, but....

DC and TK are absolutely fine with me posting re: DTD etc but I sort of feel I've been on a bit of a "BP freeroll" marketing DTD over last 9 months on the BP site. They are cool with me using the BP forum to discuss DTD, cause BP is run buy a real great bunch of people, but since the launch of the BP online poker room, I just don't feel its "right" doing it anymore, as DTD will be having its own online room later on in 2006.

I think I'd rather revert back to being a BP forum reader that "poster" and do my marketing of DTD off my own back from now on. By me posting about DTD I am effectively marketing our online site aswell and that doesn't really wash with me. If I saw someone marketing another online poker room on BP for free, even in a subtle way, I'd be a bit narked as a Blondite myself, so I gotta look at things from that point of view.

When I originally started this thread my intention was not to market DTD, but to do something similar to my WSOP diary, DTD is not and will never be a major source of income for me so I have the luxury of being able to do as I choose and what I feel is right. As a BP supporter I don't like 3rd parties piggy backing on BP's success which hopefully will be accelerated by the success of their online poker room.

I appreciate that people want to know what is going on with DTD etc but I've made my decision. Most of the interesting set-up has been done now anyway so youre not missing much. This poker business is full of free loaders and parasites at all levels, so we are going to do things entirely of our own back, as we enter the most critical period, the 6 months before opening, whether we are successful or not!

I have not discussed this with anyone at BP, so please don't cause a big issue over this, as we're all good mates and I'll find it embarrassing, however, obviously I needed to explain myself to people who have followed this thread, so they know why its come to an end.

Cheers Rob

[snoopy1239]

Have you spoken to DC about this, rob?

I'm sure you guys could come to some sort of arrangement that benefited both sides.