Bill and Ted's Excellentes Aventures

[Karabiner]

Best of luck Ian, looking forward to a deep run with epic udates.

Perhaps if you find a spare moment or two you might indulge your loyal following by explaining the successful(as I read it) "spectacular move" that you made in the game with £1K on the button.

[Tal]

Do wins, Mr G.

[tikay]

Good luck Ian.

[iangascoigne]

     As the French National Anthem blasts out my predictive powers know no bounds. I will not bore you with the details except it involved backdooring a brilliant disguised flush which the villain would not see coming because of the disguised nature of the line I took. Unfortunately the runner runner clubs miraculously gave him a higher flush which I didn't see coming because of the disguised nature of the line he took. Suffice it to say it crippled me and when I shoved my last 5k with A2DD the very same villain called my reraise with a meagre 10,10. No aces to be seen or diamonds leaves me sat reflecting on the brief appearance in this tournament. I was dealt about 7 small pairs and the first few levels to no avail. Not a set in sight. I missed straight draws and double belly busters and 9,9 was my biggest hand of the session. Well it's hard to call urban session really.
      Good to see a lot of familiar faces who obviously have more skill and patience than me. Stato is pretty short and we may go to watch the rugby in a local pub but he also knows how to grind and hopefully he'll get stacked up shortly.
       There isn't a lot of other tournament opportunities today which makes the whole thing worse.
       Best strategy maybe to watch the rugby this afternoon with a few beers,have a nap and return when the cash games have warmed up. Mind you I did witness in the first level the AA v KK road crash all in pre flop. The King on the river was pretty brutal for the young guy concerned.
       So desperately sorry there is no long deep run in the comp but there's another one tomorrow or I could even go into the Seniors Event where you have to be over 50. Fortunately I have brought my passport or they wouldn't believe I am eligible to enter. Poker eh,what a stupid game. The funny thing is I actually played quite tight for a few orbits

[BorntoBubble]

enjoy the Guinness

[edgascoigne]

Confirmed stay at the Devon residence made even more enjoyable by backing the winner of the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury.

Enjoy Dublin - much more enjoyable things to be doing there than playing poker!

Wednesday are on their way back, too.

[iangascoigne]

  Update. Stato and Alex are successfully grinding in the comp and Keith 'Silver Fox' is going really well in the €25,000 High Roller having satellited in last night. I have found a lively fun €1/2/5 cash game and have managed so far to do quite well.
 Especially helpful to the mood has been a very nice pint of Guinesss, a young German and a guy from Limerick. Poker can be fun with the right sociable attitude.

[LonOhRay]

Have played in Dublin, Killarney and Galway and every single game I played was very good fun. May have been helped by the Guinness but I cannot recall a dull game or atmosphere in Ireland, my favourite place to play poker.

Best of luck to all of the above, enjoy.

[iangascoigne]

      So trip update. Enjoyable cash session last night involved moving up to a 2/5 table and although very tired managed to find KK v AJ on a Jack high board and get what I think is called '3 Streets of value'. That hand will pay for today's tournament and hopefully will also be railing Keith in the really big high roller. Managed a decent nights sleep and apart from a mild headache feeling pretty good about today. A decent one day tournament,some cracking football matches, someone I know in a massive final table and a day off tomorrow. What could possibly go wrong apart from an early flight with Ryan Air.

[iangascoigne]

      Well it's 7am and as I wait for the flight to East Midlands it's time to put the lid on the little 48 hour trip to Dublin. Actually spent very little time in Dublin. Most of the time in an anonymous conference center surrounded by dour nitty European poker players chasing dreams. Highlights were a decent friendly cash session populated by a couple of Irish guys who were enjoying the 'craic' but mostly the field was over serious dour Europeans chasing dreams and tanking forever every decision. Which brings me on to one issue that I think tournament organizers are going to have to address. Every hand seemed to take forever as every decision took an age. With a thirty minute clock it's pretty sick to sit and watch every hand take about 6 minutes to play out. Obviously this is appropriate on the €25,000 High Roller but really guys, not in the €1,000 one day comp. The slow play was torture and a little ridiculous. There was very little conversation between players who were all tuned into their phones and as a recreational player the experience was a little underwhelming. It was good to go for a curry with Alex and some of the Brits and a beer after Keith's unfortunate bust in the High Roller but as for the actual poker it was disappointing. That being said I guess that really it's about winning money and the experience is secondary. To win you need to be focused and you are not at the table to build relationships and learn about the world. However I did learn a few things. I watched a few orbits of the High Roller when there was about 30 players left and it was very interesting watching the way the streets played out,the body language of the players concerned and the undoubted power of position. Patience,analytical skills and forever putting your opponent to the test seemed the order of the day but without risking all your chips on a flush draw.........
        Right, got to go to my gate now. Have fun. Work hard and be nice to people. It's later than you think.

[iangascoigne]

    Just a final comment. Whilst Ryan Air get a bad press for their approach to selling add ons etc. If you follow the process with you eyes open they really are quite efficient. Two flights,both on time,seat selected in advance,boarding card printed in advance.Walk on walk off. Not exactly a ton of leg room but for 50 minutes does it matter?

[tikay]

One of Ireland's greatest living businessmen, if not THE greatest, thanks you. 

[StuartHopkin]

Pretty sure he reads Blonde as Ryanair have implemented a lot of things we discussed on here a good few years back Tikay!

Allocated seating and customer support you can chat to online...... for free!

[iangascoigne]

     Looks like Bingo's next adventure will be Newbury on 5th March. Wow a proper big racecourse on a Saturday meeting. What could possibly go wrong?

[iangascoigne]

  So this afternoon will see Bingo's handicap debut in the 4pm at Newbury. If you've seen The Racing Post this morning you will see he's not fancied at all. He is also 8th out of 9 in the betting. So if he finishes ahead of 8th we will have really showed them.
     We have Wayne Hutchinson on board who should really be able to help Bingo with his jumping. What we know is that he's got a decent engine ( stamina if not speed) and that he can plug away. He can actually jump and although a little accident prone he has some heart. Apparently we are going to try and 'keep him handy' and go for a positive run. There's a long straight at Newbury and thus should allow for a decent gallop. So happy Blondes pile on each way and see you at the cash out desk.
    The other news is that I have decided to visit my 85 yr old man instead followed by a trip to Hillsborough to watch the game against Rotherham. It's just none stop top quality sporting events for me.