Luton Calling.

[UgotNuts]

They play a lot of dc games Tuesday s Thursday's quite busy and run nlh or round of each more or less what Evers asked for if there's enough interest they will run it
They have £100 freezes with reasonable gtees and a monthly deepstack around the middle of the month
It's a nice place to play good staff well run for the smaller buy in punters
Eg last Tuesday 145 runners in a£35+£7 ? £2500 gte plus 5 mini GPS seats
Add James simon or genting luton card room on Facebook for what's on

Thanks for the Info. I plan on going down this weekend to have a look. They seem really busy doing the week which is good. Hope they are just as busy on the weekends!

[Ransom]

They play a lot of dc games Tuesday s Thursday's quite busy and run nlh or round of each more or less what Evers asked for if there's enough interest they will run it
They have £100 freezes with reasonable gtees and a monthly deepstack around the middle of the month
It's a nice place to play good staff well run for the smaller buy in punters
Eg last Tuesday 145 runners in a£35+£7 ? £2500 gte plus 5 mini GPS seats
Add James simon or genting luton card room on Facebook for what's on

Thanks for the Info. I plan on going down this weekend to have a look. They seem really busy doing the week which is good. Hope they are just as busy on the weekends!

They are a lot busier than you'd assume now, and the staff are more accommodating of things than the Grovesnor staff I have found. If 4 people wanted to play 4/5/6 cash, then they'd put it on for you rather than the straight no you'd probably get down at the G. But when a game breaks, there's not really enough people about to get it started again so you can find cash games ending at midnight quite often.

I guess you have the people from the Dunstable/Leagrave area who only go to Genting who make up the bulk of players in comps, and then a dozen or so G regs will bump the numbers up. There's people I see at Genting all the time that I have never seen at the G before.

They have 2 comps on the Sunday. The DC comp starts at 4pm, and then they have a holdem comp with one addon that starts at 8. The 8pm holdem is usually slow to start but once people drop out of the Grovesnor Sunday, they show up at Genting.

[Ransom]

enjoying this

do you not play at the G Luton, mostly the skimpot?

I play at both, with some Vic/Aspers mixed in from time to time.

Where I play mainly depends on what days off I have from work and where the best structured comp is in the evening. The G seems to have gone a bit mental with massive starting stacks in tourneys and no antes (or it was the last time I was there), so I haven't been into playing their comps for a while. 

Genting seems to have calmed down a bit and stopped giving out 30k starting stacks now, so I find their comps more enjoyable at the moment even it is a more expensive place to get to from the train station.

[Ransom]

glad to hear your happy with how your live mix game skills are improving but id have to say you need to reconsider who you think are strong players in the game if you wish to succeed

This sounds like a fair point honestly. There are probably players in these games that I think are better than they actually are. Sample size in the live DC is pretty low as I get into the DC game about an hour and a half before it breaks almost every time.

I'd love to get some more time in the DC, but it runs when it runs. I've seen it start at 9pm and break by midnight quite a few times, and I've missed a chance at it by being in a comp.

I think they do DC every Thursday at Genting, but I'm not sure. One of these days I'll just show up with the intention of playing a full DC session, and just hope it runs with a seat open.

Your thoughts on the Luton DC game in general would be appreciated though.

[Ransom]

Think u missed out on a massive opportunity in missing the Mini GPS, £220 buy in with a £22k first prize, 43 paid. Great value and a massive chance of a bink right on your doorstep, even the self proclaimed "sickest fish" Will Kassouf went straight from Vegas to Genting Luton to play.

Not playing was a bit naughty really, best option is to write out some lines, 100 of the following please

I promise I will play any event in future that I know Nivarna is playing in, even if I live in Malta.

Yeah I feel a bit sick that I didn't play it now. I knew it was going to be solid value, but I never would have thought it was going to smash the guarantee as much as it did. Wouldn't surprise me if the next time we get a full £440 GPS.

Maybe they'll chuck us some more decent comps in Luton now off the back of this one. There's obviously interest for more £200-£500 buy in comps here, especially as we're half an hour outside of London.

I promise I will play any event in future that I know Nivarna is playing in, even if I live in Malta.

[Redsgirl]

Just read this entire diary in one sitting on papadog's recommendation and I have enjoyed it immensely.
Your honest open style of writing is irresistible Ransom,
and I hope you remember keep on posting when you leave us for your adventures abroad.

Great things are around the corner kid, and I want to hear all about it!

[Ransom]

True to form it's taken me over a week to get another write up going. I had a pretty fun Sunday though.

Early hours of Sunday morning I get a 4th place finish for $1.1k on Stars which is good for the confidence. Close to +$2k in 2 weeks playing Stars comps which I'm pleased with as I'm not much of a tourney player anymore apart from the odd live Luton punts. And I was like -$600 after a gross couple of days at the $2/$4 and $3/$6 2-7 Triple Draw tables, so it got me out of that hole and then some.

Sunday though! I was heading down to Genting for their monthly £100 tournament, which I affectionately call the Luton High Roller. I'd also not slept in close to 22 hours, but I can pass up sleep for a decent value comp.

It was billed as 'Super Slow', which could be problematic for someone who was going to be as sleep deprived as a prisoner of war by level 3. 30 minute clock though, which is 5 minutes longer than usual so I was curious to see where the Super Slow part comes in. Turns out they chucked in a few extra levels, so we got 150/300, 250/500, 500/1000 etc.

Massive turnout from the start meaning we had 10 handed tables for about 5 hours - maybe this is what they meant by Super Slow. 20000 chips and a dream. Or a secondary dream as I was fading into sleep before it was even time to shuffle up and deal. One Red Bull and dreams of a live win perked me up soon enough.

TABLE DRAW

Seat 1 - Me, hero who hasn't cashed a Luton comp since January and blames it on run bad.
Seat 2 - Friendly chatty guy I see all over the place, always orders too much food and ends up giving it away to the table. Herbal medicine enthusiast.
Seat 3 - Young guy, aggro and generally solid if not a bit vocal to played who make questionable decisions. 
Seat 4 - You know those 50-60 year old guys who play every comp but they all look and sound alike? One of those.
Seat 5 - See above.
Seat 6 - See above.
Seat 7 - Above once more. It's like they've been cloned for the purpose of playing local poker tournaments.
Seat 8 - Manic Turkish guy who plays every hand.
Seat 9 - Internet kid, played with him a bit at the G. Pretty decent from what I remember.
Seat 10 - Middle aged lady who apparently grinds the $109s/$162s on Stars so could be super sick for all I know.

We slowly take down some pots over the first couple of hours to get us to about 32,000 chips, and we get the following.

200/400/50 - We get  in the big blind.

Seat 1 limps.
Seat 2 limps.
Seat 3 folds.
Seat 4 limps...standard chain reaction that ends up with everyone else coming along for the ride. 8 limps to me, and I make it 2500.

Seat 1 calls.
Seat 2 calls.
Everyone calls. 20,000 in the pot already.

FLOP - 

Doing backflips in my mind now because I know this is going to end up with me getting it in vs someone with a flush draw.

I bet 10,000, get shoved on for like 8k more. Everyone else folds and I fistpump call it off vs  .

TURN - 
RIVER - 

Get knocked down to like 7000 chips and a bit of shrapnel. And get sent on break. 15 minutes to mentally recuperate.

We double up the first hand back from break with  vs the  of seat 3, and then win the next pot after to put us back up to starting stack.

Chip back up to 25,000 and this little gem happened.

Blinds 400/800/100

I am in the BB with  . Mr Aggro in the 3 seat opens to 2000. Seat 6 calls. I defend for the 1200 more.

Flop 

Seat 3 c-bets 3000. Seat 6 shoves for 18,000. I reshove for 23k or so.

All in vs 44 and we hold to peak at around 50,000.

---

Our table is one of the first to break, and I get moved to table 9 which has a few familiar faces on it. 

Blinds 600/1200/100

I have  in the big blind.
5 limps to me. I should be raising here like 100% of the time, but after the last time I just decided to check it rather than make it 8500 and get 4 calls with a Q high flop.

FLOP - 

I lead at it for 3500, and get one call from Yaz.
 
Turn - 

I bet again for 4800 and get a call once more.

River 

I check, all draws got there and I felt I was a good shot to lose to some funky two pair. Yaz checks behind and rolls over  . How about that. Should have lost a lot more there.

---

Blinds 800/1600/200

I have  on the button. One call from the crazy Turkish guy (You should just assume in every hand I put up from this comp, this guy has limped in). I make it 4500, and the BB peels along with Mr I Play Every Hand Ever.

Flop  .

BB shoves for 16,000, crazy Turkish guy calls, I reshove 55,000, crazy Turkish guy tank folds.

We hold vs  after the  and run out.

100k and peaking.  50 big blinds and a dream.

---

We win one decent pot preflop with AA, and then don't see a single playable hand from 9pm to about 11:30pm. I could feel my brain beginning to rot after no sleep and boredom. By now the blinds had crept up to 3000/6000/500 and we had bled down to about 60k. Twice more through the blinds after folding, and we are the short stack with 45,000 chips and 16 remaining from the total field of 120 or so. 12 places paid.

We get one small double up in with KK vs QQ which felt like I was being shocked back to life with one of those paddle things they zap you with after your heart conks out. For the next two orbits the first card we peeled was a deuce. I was exasperated each time I'd see that ugly little number peek at me from the corner of the card, and I was that short I was praying for one of it's prettier sisters to show up to give me a fighting chance with a pair.

Blinds 4000/8000/1000

We have  in the big blind, with 40,000 chips total.

Get a shove from the guy who took chunks off me in the flush vs top set hand from earler.

I have a quarter of my chips in the middle already, and because we're nearing the bubble this guy isn't going to be super light I thought. But I felt I was live enough to get it in the mixer and hope for the best.

He has 

FLOP - 

At least we had the draw. And I needed to draw like an HB pencil to get out of it.

TURN -

RIVER - 

Busto in 15th. The live win still eludes us this year. It's an Urban Legend at this point, like Rumpelstiltskin. If I ever see a troll man under a bridge and he asks me to guess his name for three wishes, I will ask for infinite money, a hairline that doesn't recede and one decent shot at winning a £25 rebuy/addon in Luton.

---

It was like 1am at this point, and there was a party going down at the blackjack table. Some kids who work nights at McDonalds in St Albans were there and were each in for £10, and they smashed the perfect pairs over and over for about £600 each. They convinced me to try the same, and we span £25 into about £300. So we got our mincash in the end.

I sat the DC game for £200, and despite it being a £1/£1 the average stack was about £600 at this point in the night. Chopped one decent pot with I had a full house and a 3-2 low vs the bare nut low. Managed to sit for an hour before it broke for the night and come out -£12.

Back at it tonight though, found some chips in my wallet I didn't cash in. It's enough to buy in for whatever is happening this evening, but not enough to justify going all the way down there just to cash them out.

How close can we get tonight? Will I finally get this monkey off my back, or will I meekly sleek back to Bedford with my tail between my legs. Find out next time.

Oh and remember that crazy Turkish guy I mentioned? I think he won the whole comp in the end. 

[Chompy]

^ another masterclass from Yaz

[relaedgc]

Hi,

Firstly can I take the opportunity to apologise profusely for my interjection upon your blog - but I can't help but feel that it provides the perfect sample size coupled with a multiplicity of varying characters that I am sure to derive some benefit from asking a few questions of you and your intrepid following.

As I am sure most of you are all aware, it is with great regret and sadness that Raj has departed the shores of Grosvenor Luton to move on to bigger and better things. That being the case, the boss of my bosses boss has sent me from the dizzying heights of the capital back to my most beloved of venues (and my hometown) - Luton.

There are a few issues that are foremost evident to me and in short order I'll provide a list of these. I am curious, and I hope with your help, that I could brainstorm for a greater understanding of perceived problems, shortcomings etc at the Grosvenor. I'm given to understand that Genting has created a more stalwart following in the last year than was the case when I worked in Luton, and as I have been tasked with trying to restore some glory and prestige unto the Grosvenor once more, I'll be needing some insight and feedback - to which I am hoping you'll all oblige me (in a constructive manner, I hope!)

It's Understaffed, undergoing a refurbishment and so disruption internally and to parking, there's a distinct lack of 'experience' within the team. The tournament numbers appear to be declining - certainly against the figures I analysed compared to 2013 and 2014. That said, the cash game league has certainly worked and the cash games have grown year on year. So, tell me, in your own opinions - what's going wrong?

[Ransom]

Hi,

Firstly can I take the opportunity to apologise profusely for my interjection upon your blog - but I can't help but feel that it provides the perfect sample size coupled with a multiplicity of varying characters that I am sure to derive some benefit from asking a few questions of you and your intrepid following.

As I am sure most of you are all aware, it is with great regret and sadness that Raj has departed the shores of Grosvenor Luton to move on to bigger and better things. That being the case, the boss of my bosses boss has sent me from the dizzying heights of the capital back to my most beloved of venues (and my hometown) - Luton.

There are a few issues that are foremost evident to me and in short order I'll provide a list of these. I am curious, and I hope with your help, that I could brainstorm for a greater understanding of perceived problems, shortcomings etc at the Grosvenor. I'm given to understand that Genting has created a more stalwart following in the last year than was the case when I worked in Luton, and as I have been tasked with trying to restore some glory and prestige unto the Grosvenor once more, I'll be needing some insight and feedback - to which I am hoping you'll all oblige me (in a constructive manner, I hope!)

It's Understaffed, undergoing a refurbishment and so disruption internally and to parking, there's a distinct lack of 'experience' within the team. The tournament numbers appear to be declining - certainly against the figures I analysed compared to 2013 and 2014. That said, the cash game league has certainly worked and the cash games have grown year on year. So, tell me, in your own opinions - what's going wrong?

Hi! I did hear about Raj leaving, I will be sad to see her go as she was always lovely to me - if a bit quick with the rubdowns.

Unfortunately the perceived issues in the cardroom at the G are a hot topic among the crowd who have now taken up residence at Genting. The first part of this will be concerns I have heard firsthand from conversations in Genting in the past fortnight, and then I'll give my two pence worth as well.

---

Some players have voiced their unhappiness to me about the changes to the Min-Max buyin for the 50p/£1 game. They feel the cardroom has given in to the request to change it from a £120 maximum to a £200 maximum by the £1/£2 regulars who have apparently struggled to fill a table recently. They feel it is driving the more recreational players away as the game is now artificially increased to what is effectively a £1/£2 when the game has a near constant £2 straddle on. 

When the people who like to sit with £50 realise their money isn't going as far as it used to or it's getting scooped by the same stronger £1/£2 players, they're going to drive the 30 minutes to Casino MK and play the 50p/50p there instead or feel they're going to have more fun on the roulette. As poker players, we want that money to stay in the Luton poker ecosystem.

There used to be a 25p/50p game with a £30 max on the casino floor a couple of years ago when I first started coming to the Grovesnor, and that was hilariously good fun. Probably unprofitable to run mind, but I don't think I saw any unhappy faces or people waving their handbags about on it. People could pull up for £30 at Midnight and not be faced with a game playing fairly deep as the others tend to do at the same time of night. It was good innocent fun, with a home game atmosphere that sent people home happy win or lose. 

Personally I would like to see that game come back, if only to start building a new group of players who in time will get involved in the tournaments and bigger cash games after a while. All these people coming into Luton for University soon, and a good amount will visit the Grovesnor with their student loans in hand. If they do chunks on the roulette within a week, they won't come back. If a dozen or so get into a small stakes game, they could turn into regulars that visit and play quite often. There's a poker society at the Uni Of Bedfordshire that plays small games in their student union each week. They can't justify £200-£300 for a cash game at the G but they could probably get involved for £30-£50.

---

The general operations of the cardroom have been causing concern as well. On occasions people have called for the floor and there's nobody around, it lead to quite a catastrophic issue which ended up with a dealer quitting (detailed a few posts back). At Genting there are at least two floor people to give rulings around even if there's only one game running.

There have been times where cash game lists have been 20 people deep, but no sign of new tables opening because there's nobody about to deal them. People have walked in to the cardroom, seen the list and just walked straight back out again. I don't know how much a single table of 50p/£1 generates in rake an hour on average, but I imagine it's substantial enough to cover the cost of keeping dealers around for another couple of hours on a Friday/Saturday night. If they can't play in the cardroom, they'll play in the pits and while it may make no odds to the Grovesnor bosses who might only care about profit/loss on the whole building - it probably reflects quite badly on the cardroom who could have pulled in an extra few hundred quid in rake but didn't because there were no staff about.

In short, people are quite displeased about how it has been run recently. One quote from someone I won't name sticks out in my mind - "They seem to have a team of people who don't like poker, so they have no interest in dealing with poker players"

---

Nobody really has anything bad to say about the rake race. It's something that just happens in the background and the requirements to get in aren't insane. There's no loyalty equivalent for tournaments though and I'd imagine the largest group of regulars at the tournament guys. There are some that I swear play every single one, but there's no loyalty rewards for them because they very rarely sit the cash games.

There used to be two tournament loyalty things I can remember -

The Card Protector thing, where you win a comp and get a coloured card protector. The more colours you collect, the bigger rewards you could cash them in for. There was an incentive to play the tournament out and not just chop it at the first whiff of a cash, and it had people playing the smaller field weekday comps to try and collect them (which in turn lead to an increase in runners during the week.) I personally went on a manic midweek grind for about a month as I only needed two more for the £1000 GUKPT seat (thin I know) and then it just stopped without warning rendering them all useless. They just sit on my shelf now, and because they stopped the promotion I couldn't cash them in for a smaller reward like the £100 monthly seat.

The 'Sponsored Pro' league, where the winner got free entry to all G comps for a month. It gives a huge advantage for the winner to retain month after month of course when they're freerolling every event, but Casino MK have adopted this and by all accounts it's very popular.

On the subject of rake race and loyalty, I was given information on good authority that Genting are planning to launch a cash game loyalty promotion with a prize that will ramp up their cash game volume.

---

Whatever happened to the festivals that used to run at the Grovesnor? When Genting ran the Mini GPS for £220, it was jammed all week (and it's only got like 10 tables). I look on Hendon Mob and you used to see all sorts of stuff from 2003-2008 that I was too young to play in. Summer Festivals, Winter Classic, festival this, festival that.

Genting proved the runners will come for a decent week of comps. I get GUKPT comes around for a £1000 buy in one week of the year, but it seemed like the glory days of the G were when there were festivals with a £300-£500 main event a few times a year. I was only about 15 at the time but those more storied veterans of the G might be able to chime in on this.

With a new 240 seat room being built, I imagine things might be in the works, but the only time I have seen the G cardroom stretched to it's limits is when the pub poker leagues have their regional final.

---

There will always be people around to play at the G, but at this moment in time Genting are doing the same things but just better run. There's not much difference in the buyins/guarantees so people are going to play at the venue they feel more valued in.

Genting staff know everyone by name, are more welcoming and generally happy to help you out. You feel like a valued customer in Genting, rather than you're just in everyone's way at the G.

There are good staff in the poker room at Grovesnor that make my experience fun, don't get me wrong. Stacey and Ben come to mind for sure, but everything is still rough around the edges.

I do look forward to seeing what you have planned, and returning to the G at some point soon when changes are made. I'm sure the rest of the former G-now Genting group are the same. 

[celtic]

Just to add a couple of things, I actually think the 25/50 game was bad for other cash games, it drove a lot of the 1/2 players away. And I'm not sure, but George can clarify, I think the 25/50 was profitable for the casino.

I haven't really been to the g regularly for a year, but from what I remember, and what I've heard since, I think the customers have to be held partly responsible for its demise.

[bunnydas8888]

Hi,

Firstly can I take the opportunity to apologise profusely for my interjection upon your blog - but I can't help but feel that it provides the perfect sample size coupled with a multiplicity of varying characters that I am sure to derive some benefit from asking a few questions of you and your intrepid following.

As I am sure most of you are all aware, it is with great regret and sadness that Raj has departed the shores of Grosvenor Luton to move on to bigger and better things. That being the case, the boss of my bosses boss has sent me from the dizzying heights of the capital back to my most beloved of venues (and my hometown) - Luton.

There are a few issues that are foremost evident to me and in short order I'll provide a list of these. I am curious, and I hope with your help, that I could brainstorm for a greater understanding of perceived problems, shortcomings etc at the Grosvenor. I'm given to understand that Genting has created a more stalwart following in the last year than was the case when I worked in Luton, and as I have been tasked with trying to restore some glory and prestige unto the Grosvenor once more, I'll be needing some insight and feedback - to which I am hoping you'll all oblige me (in a constructive manner, I hope!)

It's Understaffed, undergoing a refurbishment and so disruption internally and to parking, there's a distinct lack of 'experience' within the team. The tournament numbers appear to be declining - certainly against the figures I analysed compared to 2013 and 2014. That said, the cash game league has certainly worked and the cash games have grown year on year. So, tell me, in your own opinions - what's going wrong?

Have thought about this for a while.

Have to agree with everything you say.  I played wednesday last week and it started off as 4 tables 10 handed, one of which was self deal!  (I think someone may have not turned up, but, the fact that all of the tables were 10 handed showed that more staff was needed).  Once more staffed turned up they were used for the tournament and as a result, the cash players had to wait longer!

I also played Tuesday just gone and there was an incident of missing chips after one of the breaks.  A camera check was performed, but, quite obviously, there was no camera over the table in question (due to the refurb).  There then seemed to be a difference of opinion between the staff as to how to deal with it (ie, what to tell the bloke who thought he got done over).  Doesn't give the best impression if the staff can not agree between themselves!

I also spoke to a mate of mine who goes in around once every 2 weeks, depends on his shifts at work.  I showed him this post and asked for his opinions.  He told me the following:

There is no incentive with the tournys players like there is cash, the cash has been doing good.  There was an attempt to start a tourny league, but, in my opinion no one tried to push it.  They only mentioned it to regulars.  The only reason I knew about it was because Raj told my mate about it when I went with him as he was "perceived" as a regular.

It isn't a friendly place for new players, very much thrown into the baptism of fire and belittled by regs when they make an honest mistake.  Some of the behavior of these regs if they get unlucky towards these new players doesn't make it very comforting to them.  Not surprised that people turn up and play and then wait a long time before they return, if ever.



He doesn't play cash (played once, lost around £200 and has left it since), but, he did say that part of that was because he isn't a cash player.  The only reason he played that night was because of me.  If the 25/50 table was still running he would probably play that to get used to the differences, then move on to the bigger tables.  As it stands, very unlikely to play a 50/1 or 1/2 table.

[Omm]

When I first started going I found that a lot of regulars seemed offish, when you get to know them you realise that it's only a few that are miserable old gits but they are like that with everyone and don't make exception for new faces. That being said nobody should be made to feel unwelcome and that is the responsibility of both regular customers and staff alike.

I think the staff need a lot more customer service training so that they are able to do a few things with confidence:

1) Control the table, far to often customers who think they know better (and sometimes they actually do!!) push the dealers around, much better if the dealers have a better understanding of the rules/ common sense and are able to control the table (without being like hitlers) as well as able to explain any situation to the floor when called over.

2) concentrate on their job, too often staff will not be following the action or be hold extensive conversations at the table. Of course we would like friendly dealers that will talk to us but there is a fine line and crossing the line can be quite lethal to the customer experience.

A few other things that spring to mind:

 Make sure any current promotions are fully advertised,at times some staff have not be able to explain what the current points system was for the cash rake race, there was also no formal POS detailing the rake race promotion so non regulars would not know it was on, great for regs as it's the same people getting in it every month but would be even better for everyone if more people were competing so advertise it better.

Have more staff available, cash games starting late and table starting 10 handed can be common, no good if you want customers to stick around. Of course it's not cost effective to have staff doing nothing so when it's quiet it could be a problem but I'm sure through numbers you can notice a pattern of when you will be busier and employ more part time staff for those times.

I'm sure there is plenty more that can be done and even though I have said the above I can also say that there are some fantastic staff that work in the poker room that do a really good job and should be rewarded well for it. Of course as well as this the customers have a job to do as well especially if they want people to visit the casino and being welcoming and friendly is a massive part of that.

Good luck on your return George, hopefully you will make a difference.

[Omm]

It might also be an idea to start your own thread for dedicated feedback on the poker room.

[Ransom]

It's another late night/early morning for me. I'm actually working from 4pm on Saturday the 15th of August, through until 8am on Monday the 17th. I'm sure it's illegal, and it's not doing the already misfiring synapses in my brain any favours, but if I can pick up close to a few hundred quid sat about doing nothing apart from watching SuperCasino and eating Tesco Value biscuit selections - I'll take it.

Who even likes Malted Milk biscuits anyway?

---

I didn't win that comp in Luton last Monday. Nowhere near it to be quite frank. We were in and out just after the re-entry ended, so me and Chippie just ended up trying to see how long we could make £20 last trying to get lucky doing the side bets on the Blackjack and peaked at £80. Then we somehow ended up leaving stuck £70. Those young lads from the impromptu Blackjack party in the last update were back in as well, apparently I was hilariously entertaining that night and they were quite keen for me to carry on my drunk stand up routine. Shame I only have about 6 jokes in me. Still, Mickey Flanagan is still doing his "I'm going out, out" bit and people love it so I could have recycled a couple.

Chippie gave me a lift home though which was nice of him, even though it ended with us getting lost for ages. He has some great stories about old Blonde Bashes, and he says he'll show up on here again soon.

A few people have been quite willing to drive me the 25 minutes back to Bedford from Luton recently. Maybe they think I'm too meek and vulnerable to stand at the train station at 2am, or they're happy to make an easy £20 and get most of the money they spent on playing the comp back. It costs me about £16 in taxis to get home anyway, I consider the extra £4 a premium for not potentially being shot at.

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I am becoming more enticed by pit games, which is something that needs to stop. It's Vegas that did it, binking slot machines and a big win on the Baccarat has given me the bug. When I first started playing at the G, I used to sort of stare mournfully at the people on the roulette as their chips got bulldozed down the chute and they pulled out more £50s. During the £100 monthly I found myself on the roulette with no idea what people were saying. I didn't know what 'neighbors' and 'Orpheliens' were. We did have 3 spins, and actually binked numbers on two of them to win about £60 total, but I just felt ashamed of myself afterwards. Despite winning a small amount, I felt like I was one of those people who queue up outside the bookies to chuck their money away playing cartoon roulette on those machines.

The other day I was thinking about going down to Genting with the purpose of playing blackjack. Not even entering a comp. Probably the fucking dumbest idea I have ever had, and I'm glad I realised that fairly soon.

I took to just trying to spin up off the free no deposit bonuses some online casinos give out, and in the past month I have hit BGO.com for £300, and 888 Casino for £425. Almost got Ladbrokes for £300 as well off a £20 150% bonus on a new account, but I gave most of that back and cashed off a £30 profit there. It's surprisingly easy (if not tedious) to release the bonus money if you build up around £50-£70 in bonus play and then play a certain slot machine with a bankroll for 70 spins and move up/down accordingly.

However as I have exhausted my no deposit bonuses on almost all reputable online casinos that offer them, my brief foray into pure degenerate gambling is over. I'm taking the money and running, to use an overused phrase. If you ever see me playing Blackjack or worse, roulette - quote this blog post and I will give you the chips in front of me. 100% guaranteed, no questions asked*. Poker already consumes my life, I don't need to more shit to the list.

*Las Vegas is excluded.

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I'm going to be 25 in a month. Back when I was 18 I used to think about how I always wanted to be a professional footballer and being ridiculously envious of the 17 year olds playing in the Premier League. Now I am nearing the quarter century marker, I am thinking the same about poker. All these 20 year old sickos, and I feel about 5 years behind the curve. I did take an extended break from Poker from 17-21 years old, so I can probably take 3 years off my Poker age and claim I am 22 in poker years.

It's a strange age for me though. I think that nobody really grows up, we're just kids with adult shaped bodies. You just keep your head up and fake it until you make it. I'm closer to 30 than I am 18 now. That's scary to me.

I can still remember my 18th Birthday like it was yesterday. Down the British Legion because most of my friends were still underage and we could get served our £1.20 Snakebite and Black and then blagging our way into the local nightclub and feeling like proper adults, smoking fags and getting rounds in at the bar in our ill fitting collared shirts. Funny how on that night we were all so keen to be seen as grown up, but as I get older I want to be 18 again.

I'm sure the more 'seasoned' of you will tell me to stop moaning and that I am still basically a bloody kid, but it weighs on my mind quite a lot. Christ I hate to think what I am going to be like when I am 40.

I'll be celebrating my 25th as I've celebrated my 24th and 23rd. Dragging my long suffering best friend around town while I drink myself happy and guilt trip her into coming to Genting with me.

Buy the kid a drink if you see him propped up in the corner by a girl with ginger hair.