Quote from: robyong on November 25, 2005, 07:35:05 pm
My WSOP diary was seemed to be enjoyed by a few people so I am going to keep a diary on Blonde (updated each day) in the same format as the WSOP one. I said I would do this once we had secured the poker premises.AS WELL as this diary, up until the opening date of the club, I will be asking people to help with for ideas so that we create a Club for the SERIOUS POKER PLAYER, but I will do this on SEPARATE threads (eg. Club Rules & Etiquette - what should they be?).This way I can print out everyones ideas by subject and analyse them in an organised format. I'll probably post a subject every few weeks so I can collate the largest sample of feedback possible.
This diary will also allow me get rid of some of the stress and may make interesting reading for keen poker playersr. I anticipate all sorts of problems as well as the local casinos trying to prevent this club getting a gaming licence. I''ll give you an honest account of everything that happens each day.
Cheers Rob
Well, its been a very long journey. My first post of made « on: November 25, 2005, 07:35:05 pm », 2 years and 5 days ago. What an understatement this was.......
"I anticipate all sorts of problems as well as the local casinos trying to prevent this club getting a gaming licence. I''ll give you an honest account of everything that happens each day."
This diary has brought me in touch with so many people that I would otherwise never have communicated with, but the time has come to write the last page, and close the book. Over the next few years I think I will probabaly meet nearly everyone that has posted here - at dusk till dawn.
I've saved all of the diary content, I'm sure I'll want to read it for years to come. There have been so many ups and downs, emotions, pressure and heartache. Looking back it was crazy thing to do, I had not even worked for 3 years when I decided to begin the dtd project - I guess I just needed a challenge, something that would test me to the limits, something that was against the odds, something that would awaken me from the dull routine of gambling, hotels, drinking, smoking 40 fags a day, that I had fallen into at that time.
There is such a fine line between success and failure, if we did not get the licence, I knew very well the "I told you so army" would come out of the woodwork, I also know that the many of the same people are now members of the "I knew Rob would do it gang". I wanted to put myself up to me knocked down and prove something to myself personally. Very few people know how tough this has really been, the angles that needed to be dealt with, the land mines that needed to be avoided, and how many times we came close to throwing the towel in.
When you are an enterprenner you put your credibility on the line, but more importantly you can also put peoples livelyhoods at risk, I always knew that this was a risky project, I refused to use other investors money and made what appeared to be some strange decisions, executed many bluffs and sometimes refused to fold when I knew I was definatley behind. These moves were wholly necessary to open the largest poker venue in the UK with a full casino licence, standard business practices needed to be thrown out of the window and a "hammer did needed to be used to crack this egg".
What now? Well, I feel very proud of all the people within dtd and all the people that genuinely supported dtd. I also feel proud of myself and am very happy. Whatever happens with dtd going forward will be very interesting, of course, but it cannot compare to the adrenalin rush of the roller coaster of the last 2 years. I mean, I totally agree with the Gala Barrister when he said ,"Mr Yong, how can you build a poker club without a licence?".
Back to "What now?" For me, I want to enjoy life more, this means keeping a much lower profile and getting some balance back. Investing in my home town of Nottingham will continue, creating jobs and my charity work will always be very important to me. I'm so lucky that my friends and family live so close, and of course, I'll be frequenting dusk till dawn regularly. I would like to play 4-5 poker major tournmaments per year, but I do not have the hunger to do too much travelling.
Anyway, I would like to say thank you so much for all your support and help over the past 2 years, I hope in some small way that you have enjoyed this diary but all good things must and should come an end.
Cheers and thank you for reading my ramblings,
Goodbye and Good Luck, Rob
