Luton Calling.

[Ransom]

Great blog mate...

New to Blonde myself but I am based just outside of Luton in Milton Keynes and can be classed as a 'semi reg' up G and Genting...

My name is Adam, sure we must of crossed paths at the felt before but can't be the name to the description you previously gave...


I am also flying from Manchester with Thomas Cook for 10days in June.... What date are you flying? Im leaving 8th June till 18th June.

Hi!

We have probably crossed paths at least once, would have been hard not to as I was putting in a decent shift in Genting a while back.

Leaving on the 5th from Manchester until the 15th. Same flight, just 3 days apart. Will probably be playing mixed game comps as there are heaps on during the time I'm there.

My G exclusion is up, but they won't let me back in regardless so I guess it's technically still on at the request of management. Genting one expires in about 2 weeks, but I'm not in any rush to get it back. Will probably go in and re-apply for it after Vegas, don't want to seem overly eager to get back in the casino. 

Is this your first time going to Vegas/WSOP? Def come and say hey at some point, I did it solo last year which was fun but being left to your own devices for a week in Vegas can send you a bit mad.

Did you do what I do and just buy the cheapest package you can find online and end up with a decent flight but a 3/10 hotel?

[Chompy]

Palazzo/Venetian prices are very good at the moment as part of flight+hotel packages.

[IT5PAYDAY]

Great blog mate...

New to Blonde myself but I am based just outside of Luton in Milton Keynes and can be classed as a 'semi reg' up G and Genting...

My name is Adam, sure we must of crossed paths at the felt before but can't be the name to the description you previously gave...


I am also flying from Manchester with Thomas Cook for 10days in June.... What date are you flying? Im leaving 8th June till 18th June.

Hi!

We have probably crossed paths at least once, would have been hard not to as I was putting in a decent shift in Genting a while back.

Leaving on the 5th from Manchester until the 15th. Same flight, just 3 days apart. Will probably be playing mixed game comps as there are heaps on during the time I'm there.

My G exclusion is up, but they won't let me back in regardless so I guess it's technically still on at the request of management. Genting one expires in about 2 weeks, but I'm not in any rush to get it back. Will probably go in and re-apply for it after Vegas, don't want to seem overly eager to get back in the casino. 

Is this your first time going to Vegas/WSOP? Def come and say hey at some point, I did it solo last year which was fun but being left to your own devices for a week in Vegas can send you a bit mad.

Did you do what I do and just buy the cheapest package you can find online and end up with a decent flight but a 3/10 hotel?

Decent, I think Im only focusing on the deepstacks that are coming up at Luton G or Genting, the mid week evenings are taken up by me playing online.

Will definitely say hello if come across each other out in Vegas, although Im not sure what you look like..... Either way, I'll be the lad stumbling out a strip club with his breakfast waffle mess still around his mouth looking what tourney to play that very day........ Then again, Im sure there are many that will live like that in Vegas.

I got the cheap flight as my accomodation is already sorted, Im in a stable of players and they have an apartment out there so least that is all sorted! It's 15mins from the strip but I hear Uber Cabs are smashing it out in Vegas now?

[Ransom]

Only played ~20 tournaments online in March, won 4 of them. Two 6max, one PLO8, one NLO8.

I have such a love/hate relationship with tournaments. Love/hate in the sense that I love winning them, and I hate losing.

I've decided I hate regular speed tourneys, and I love turbos now. I hate full ring and I love 6max. And I especially love it when the stars align and there's a 6max turbo NLO8 progressive knockout.

Love and hate has started to become a common theme in this diary. Bipolar game selection.

---

Less than two months to go until Vegas now. Two months is both ages away, and pretty bloody soon at the same time.

I suppose it's relative to the event that's happening at the end of those two months really.

"It's my birthday in two months" - ages away.
"I'm being executed for treason in two months time" - quite a sense of urgency.

I'm pretty much all prepared. I'm very low maintenance, I don't plan ahead. I will just bung a load of clothes in a suitcase and go to the airport on June 5th at 4am. Cannot see how this will backfire seeing as my wardrobe is basically 85% hoodies, jeans and jumpers.

All the tourney schedules are up now for June, and there is a ton of mixed games on. Last year I managed to get into one $320 HORSE, but this year there's Razz, 2-7, HORSE, 8game, Big O all within a 5 day period. What a time to be alive eh.

---

Thinking back to last year, I remember that I missed out about half the casinos on the strip. I only crossed over the road to Cosmopolitan/Bellagio once and didn't venture past Planet Hollywood. I would always reach PH and then just turn back around. Can't imagine there's much that I'm missing out on in Luxor or Mandalay Bay considering I'm not into fancy restaurants and I'm not going to be into seeing any shows, but at some point I want to make an effort and do a tour of all the casinos.

I was thinking of doing the roulette tour as seen on TwoPlusTwo. $5 on 4 numbers on roulette in 10 different casinos. If you win one you're freerolling. But then seeing as I've managed to turn a page regarding general degeneracy and pit games it might not be totally wise. I did a cash game variant last year where I played cash in as many casinos as possible in a day, but if you find a good game there's no point leaving it to go play $1/$2 in Excalibur.

I much prefer shit casinos anyway.

---

I've played at Casino MK a bit, maybe 3 sessions in the past 3 months. And Christ are the regs there miserable. I was wondering how it's the same 10 people there every time, and it's because the regular players drive everyone away.

Last cash session I played, there were a couple of suit wearers at the table. I imagine they were on some sort of business in the area or in after work. Casual players anyway. Bought in short, limped a lot, questionable decisions all around but they seemed to be entertained and were both picking up pots here and there. Didn't take long for a couple of hoodie wearers to sit down and start berating them from the off.

My standard behavior when this happens is to act like the most clueless know-it-all in poker and give absurdly bad advice on hands that nobody in their right mind would take, misuse poker terms and make outrageous claims.

"I'm folding kings there pre, it's GTO"
"I'm getting 3.742/1 there, snap call all day, it's auto profit"
"I mainly play online, PLO on untracked Russian sites because Stars rake is unbeatable".

It usually takes the heat off the casual player, and I don't care if I look like a fool so some people can play poker for a couple of hours in the evening without feeling like they're going to be attacked.

Not all heroes wear capes, but sometimes they will tell that you should raise 8x big blind and 2x pot flop every time at a £1/£1 game and that the only pure game left is Full Ring holdem on Adjarabet.

GG

[Ransom]

Great blog mate...

New to Blonde myself but I am based just outside of Luton in Milton Keynes and can be classed as a 'semi reg' up G and Genting...

My name is Adam, sure we must of crossed paths at the felt before but can't be the name to the description you previously gave...


I am also flying from Manchester with Thomas Cook for 10days in June.... What date are you flying? Im leaving 8th June till 18th June.

Hi!

We have probably crossed paths at least once, would have been hard not to as I was putting in a decent shift in Genting a while back.

Leaving on the 5th from Manchester until the 15th. Same flight, just 3 days apart. Will probably be playing mixed game comps as there are heaps on during the time I'm there.

My G exclusion is up, but they won't let me back in regardless so I guess it's technically still on at the request of management. Genting one expires in about 2 weeks, but I'm not in any rush to get it back. Will probably go in and re-apply for it after Vegas, don't want to seem overly eager to get back in the casino. 

Is this your first time going to Vegas/WSOP? Def come and say hey at some point, I did it solo last year which was fun but being left to your own devices for a week in Vegas can send you a bit mad.

Did you do what I do and just buy the cheapest package you can find online and end up with a decent flight but a 3/10 hotel?

Decent, I think Im only focusing on the deepstacks that are coming up at Luton G or Genting, the mid week evenings are taken up by me playing online.

Will definitely say hello if come across each other out in Vegas, although Im not sure what you look like..... Either way, I'll be the lad stumbling out a strip club with his breakfast waffle mess still around his mouth looking what tourney to play that very day........ Then again, Im sure there are many that will live like that in Vegas.

I got the cheap flight as my accomodation is already sorted, Im in a stable of players and they have an apartment out there so least that is all sorted! It's 15mins from the strip but I hear Uber Cabs are smashing it out in Vegas now?

Yeah Uber/Lyft is in Vegas now, and is probably half the price of what regular cabs would cost you.

As far as strip clubs go, not particularly my thing, but there is one across the road from my hotel that is apparently reasonable. If I have a good run I could be tempted to make it rain, cross it off the bucket list.

You could bowl out of a strip club at 6am with the dregs of a bottle of Grey Goose in your hand, drink it with your breakfast and then play a $60 12 man tournament with a terrible structure in the Rio at 7am. The dream. 

[Marky147]

Heaven for you @ Binions, if you like mixed games & shitholes.

Click to see full-size image.

Unfortunately I arrive just after you leave, so my dead money won't be in any of the prizepools



At least the uber/cab will be cheap, if you're at the Strat.

[Ransom]

Heaven for you @ Binions, if you like mixed games & shitholes.

Click to see full-size image.

Unfortunately I arrive just after you leave, so my dead money won't be in any of the prizepools



At least the uber/cab will be cheap, if you're at the Strat.

It might be a sad state of affairs when I am very excited to play multiple Binions tournaments on that mustard yellow felt. 

The 6max on the 5th looks fun, but I arrive at 12pm, then customs and then check in at the hotel will put me just outside of the late reg time I'd imagine. Even if I was fortunate enough to get checked in and ready by 1:30pm I'd be too shattered to even think straight.

I will be in the HORSE, and then either the 2-7 or Razz depending on what time I am up and about that day.

Quite fancy my chances there. Either in poker or with a 75 year old cocktail waitress.

[Marky147]

I love playing at Binions, even though it's obviously super old etc.

Most of the cocktail waitresses are great, and drink service is always good, in my experience. They love it when Tikay bowls into town, and makes them feel young again.

Walk down Fremont Street after 9pm, and you'll pick up multiple suitors, of various ages

[IT5PAYDAY]

I shall be heading to Genting tomorrow to play Day1a of the £17k GTD Comp...

Anyone playing?

[Ransom]

We might have to change the name of this diary soon.

A whirlwind of a month really. My family are up and away to move to North Wales, as my grandparents are ill/really old and need looking after. Me and my sister have declined to go, so the Euro dream is now reality. Got about 2 months to get everything together and get away.

We've got a prospective apartment lined up in Tallinn, Estonia. All furnished, high speed internet and it looks like the inside of a spaceship. TVs built into the walls, voice activated this, phone controlled that. And it comes with a Sauna. 15 minutes by tram into the Old Town. You can also get a train to Moscow for like £25 if you fancy a weekend adventure. Seems really nice, though I suppose if pictures on the internet told the truth, we'd all be shacked up with 10/10s from Tinder.

I'm not very politically minded, but if it's decided to leave the EU, then the Baltic adventures would be off the agenda as I would have to go through the VISA process and I have little to no redeeming qualities that would see me get a big green YES stamp on my application. So as insurance we're also lining up one in St Paul's Bay in Malta as it's part of the British Commonwealth and it won't be affected (I think).

---

It's a slight spanner in the works as far as Vegas goes in a month's time. If I could get a refund on the holiday, I would have done it and then sorted out this apartment but no changes, no refunds, that's what you get for being tight and booking with the cheapest site on a whim.

It sort of adds a bit of a narrative to it I suppose, which will be good for the Vegas diary. Does Harry live out the rest of his days in the Sun/Snow, or does he end up living with the sewer people selling bottled water outside Harrah's. Never been shy of a bit of drama, me.

The Vegas roll is now limited to $5000 down from the planned $8000. Which is fine to play $300 comps, $1/2, $1/3 and $2/5 for 10 days.

Loose schedule as follows -

Razz, HORSE, 2-7, 6 Max at Binions and Nugget - 4 x $240
Big O and DC at Planet Hollywood - 1x $240, 1 x $130
WSOP Daily - $235 x 2
WSOP Satellites to whatever is on that way, max buyin $300

That's like $2400 in estimated buy ins. Will fluctuate as some comps clash, but that seems alright to me.

My kingdom for a trophy. My life for a min cash. All on the line this summer. Better win.

"Glory follows virtue as if it were it's shadow"

[Ransom]

The heat is well and truly on.

The whole house move is causing untold stress. Family have decided to just up and move as soon as possible. Me and my sister were told that everything was paid up until the end of July, which was fine as we had plenty of time to get sorted. Come down one morning to find almost everything I don't own that's not nailed down packed up and being shifted off to a storage place. My mother is notorious for not telling you anything, and would rather climb a tree and bullshit you than stay on the ground and tell the truth. Finally get told yesterday that they're off in 2 weeks "for a month to see how they get on", which means "we're off at the start of June".

I wouldn't usually be bothered, but I can't help but feel they are trying to make this as difficult as possible for me. Me and my mother's husband (saying stepdad at 25 sounds too weird) very nearly ended up in the garden for a square go the other night when he decided to get drunk, let my dog run free and then have a pop at my sister at 1am while she was in tears after running around the town all night looking for him. 12 hours and a £50 reward later we get him back, though we had to walk 2 miles to this house where he came out smelling of Superkings. Some night that dog must have had.

My mum's husband has always been a passive aggressive little arsehole really, but we've got on by staying out of each other's way. Now he's taken his micro-aggression to a new level. Saw him the other afternoon scraping a shovel against the wall for a good half an hour right underneath my bedroom window when he thought I was asleep before work at night. We are engaged in this odd little war where I think he is trying to get me to blow up in front of everyone, but I soul read it months ago. Plus he's like 60 and would crumble like a man made of Weetabix if laid a finger on him.

The estate agent in Malta is 100% on us being able to move in as soon as we pick somewhere, and he claims he knows one of the managers at one of the internet providers who can get internet up and running same day. But if they leave like I think they will, then we are stuck with our dog who was going to go with them. He can't go to Malta, but my sister won't let him be re homed. We've looked at places in Manchester because the rent is reasonable and it's a decent location but it'd cost twice as much to move there because of the fees for everything. Months deposit, month in advance, agency fees, admin fees, reference fees, guarantor fees, reservation fees. I wouldn't mind living in Manchester, but it surely doesn't cost £200 per person to do a credit check. 

Now my family were going to drive me to the airport in two weeks for Vegas (mainly because I was going to pay for the hire car for a few days), but I refuse now because it wouldn't surprise me if the car had a "problem" 20 minutes before we had to leave now. So I'm catching the train up to arrive at 9pm the night before my 9am flight and I'm going to live in the airport like a tramp. I figure I can at least get into a lounge for a couple of hours from 4am.

I could get a hotel, but I'm not paying £130-£200 for one around the airport. AirBnb doesn't sit right with me. It feels too awkward staying in a total stranger's house. I wouldn't know what to do with myself. Do I just sit in my room? Am I allowed to move about the place? What if they make me watch telly with them and all they want to watch is property shows constantly reminding me of the shit I'm going to Vegas to get away from?

Down about £1.1k in poker in the past 3 weeks. Note to self - stop trying to bluff old ladies. They always have a flush. As certain as night turns into day and back again. They have the flush.

The prologue to the second Las Vegas diary starts with me sleeping on the floor of Manchester Airport.

The heat is on. Let's bring the rain.

[strak33]

This diary is really good reading.

Sorry the last update had to be about stressful times.

[IT5PAYDAY]

What date are you going Vegas again mate? Are you flying with Thomas Cook? If so, let me know how the on board entertainment/flight is please!

[4KSuited]

What date are you going Vegas again mate? Are you flying with Thomas Cook? If so, let me know how the on board entertainment/flight is please!

Prob best not to know. See your GP and ask for knock-out tablets. 

[IT5PAYDAY]

What date are you going Vegas again mate? Are you flying with Thomas Cook? If so, let me know how the on board entertainment/flight is please!

Prob best not to know. See your GP and ask for knock-out tablets. 

Marvellous!!!