ARE YOU RICH?
"Well by name yes" i replied and Petra said "What like Richie Rich?", (see told you it would get like Pleno's diary) and off we went. For the next few weeks we exchanged pleasantries whenever i was playing there and when there all i could think of was 'How can someone so beautiful look so miserable?
One night whilst sat in a cash game another person involved in property passed me a property magazine they had been working on so i could give them some feedback and when Petra came over for drinks she asked if she could have a read whilst on her break.
"Only if you put your number in it for me" and when i got home that night i checked and checked but she hadnt

1 week later and after a few more conversations i plucked up the courage to ask her out and i got macked off with the same line i had heard before "sorry i am not allowed to date customers", now working in sales you should never give up at the first objection which is what 80% of sales people do as if you try to overcome the objection and ask again 80% of customers give up!!
So when she came over later and no-one was listening i said i know she couldnt date customers but if she could would she come out with me to which she replied yes and it was now just a case of how i would convince her to.
I wont go into the lengths that it took as even my hero Pleno will disown me but 1 week later we went out on a date and carried on seeing each other whenever we could, anyone who has ever dated a casino or the like employee will now they obv work till ealry hours so when you have a mainstream job you get a few hours here and there.
In the early days i was still playing poker every night and gambling on sports horses you name it and in true gambler fashion you kinda resent spending money that in your eyes is the fuel on normal life stuff like food and clothes but i found a balance. It was quite hard when playing poker to listen to the comments as she was working but i soon learnt to bite my tongue as no-one in the card room knew we were dating and we wanted to keep it that way for now but it was difficult all the same.
Probably the worst i heard was when one of the young guys there who played snooker at a very high level and only drank milk asked for a glass and when Petra bought over the glass a player who was pretty low life said "oh i will have a glass of milk then please if your producing" and as her english was not 100% she never got the joke and a few mins later brings over a glass.
That night after we met up i explained what he had said and Petra said if she had know she would have accidently tripped as she got to the table and spilt it all over him, whilst the comments were hard i soon learnt to say nothing and remember it was me who was going home with her at 4.30 when she finshed...